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▲ Park Jun-young of the Hanwha Eagles. ⓒ Hanwha Eagles
▲ Park Jun-young of the Hanwha Eagles. ⓒ Hanwha Eagles
Gocheok Sky Dome, Seoul — Park Jun-young, the pitcher the Hanwha Eagles selected first overall in the 2022 draft, finally picked up his first career win five years after making his debut.
After teammate Jung Woo-joo delivered a four-inning, one-run stint, Park came on in relief and worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings to secure the victory. “I was lucky to get my first win,” Park said. “From now on I want to be the kind of pitcher who helps the team build winning momentum through sound execution.”
On May 14 at Gocheok Sky Dome in the 2026 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League matchup against the Kiwoom Heroes, Park entered in the fifth and, through two outs in the sixth, tossed 1 2/3 innings with one walk and one strikeout and allowed no runs to earn the relief victory. Hanwha took a 3-1 lead in the fifth when Kim Tae-yeon hit a solo homer, Lee Do-yoon doubled, and Yonathan Peraza brought in a run with a groundout. Park preserved that cushion and was credited with the win.
Despite entering the 2022 draft as the top prospect—and, counting first-round selections, becoming Hanwha’s second pick after Moon Dong-joo—his first win didn’t come until five years later. Park said he was happy the team won and proud to head into the next road trip riding a positive wave.
He retired the side in order in the fifth, but in the sixth, after issuing a two-out walk to Choi Joo-hwan, he was unable to complete the inning and was removed. Lee Min-woo then recorded the final out of the sixth, catching Lim Byeong-wook’s fly to center with a runner on first and two outs.
▲ Park Jun-young made a start against the LG Twins in Daejeon on May 8. ⓒ Hanwha Eagles
“Becoming the winning pitcher was down to luck,” Park said. “Looking back, I didn’t consistently get ahead in the count, which wasn’t ideal. Still, I was fortunate today. Going forward, I want to help the team win by executing better.”
Earlier this year, another player with the same name—nicknamed “Fire Baseball” Park Jun-young—joined the club as a developmental player and earned a win in his first top-team start. “His win was motivating, but it didn’t directly affect today’s game,” Park said. “He did something that’s very difficult—winning his debut start. If I stick to my role, I think I can produce good results like he did.”
He laughed as he shared a small anecdote, saying the team calls him the “second Jun-young” by age—a nickname given to him by senior Hyun-jin.
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