The professional baseball team Kiwoom Heroes predicted that Yoon Hyun would be the starting pitcher instead of Jung Hyun-woo for the game on the 2nd. What happened to Jung Hyun-woo, whose start on the 1st was canceled?

Kiwoom Heroes predicted that Yoon Hyun would be the starting pitcher for the first matchup of the season against the Doosan Bears in the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League, held at Seoul's Jamsil Stadium on the 2nd.

Initially, Kiwoom had predicted that Jung Hyun-woo, a first-rounder, would be the starting pitcher for the Doosan game on the 1st. However, a tragic accident occurred recently at Changwon NC Park, where a fan was killed by a stadium structure, leading the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) to decide to cancel the game on the 1st, resulting in Jung Hyun-woo's second start after his debut also being canceled.

Jung Hyun-woo, a standout left-handed rookie selected as the first pick in the first round by Kiwoom in 2025 after graduating from Deoksoo High School, made his professional debut against the Gwangju KIA Tigers on the 26th of last month. He pitched 5 innings, allowing 8 hits, 7 walks, and 6 runs (4 earned) to become the winning pitcher. This was the 12th starting win by a high school graduate rookie in KBO history. For Kiwoom, it was the second such record in 10 years since Ha Young-min in 2014.

The problem was Jung Hyun-woo's pitch count. He threw 93 pitches by the 4th inning and went to the mound in the 5th inning, ahead 11-4, and faced a critical moment with two outs and the bases loaded, giving up a two-RBI hit to Na Sung-bum, barely finishing the inning. He threw a whopping 122 pitches before handing the baton to Kim Yeon-joo in the 6th inning.

Jung Hyun-woo ranked second for the most pitches thrown in a rookie debut by a high school graduate in KBO history. The record for the most pitches is held by Kim Tae-hyung of the Lotte Giants, who threw 135 pitches in 1991 (9 innings, 1 run complete game). The previous second-highest was 120 pitches by Kim Soo-kyung of the Hyundai Unicorns in 1998. This was a surprising throwback to the 1990s, especially in 2025, when pitch count management has become strictly regulated with clear specialization. This is why concerns arose about overuse of Jung Hyun-woo.

This raised questions about whether there was an issue with Jung Hyun-woo's physical condition, leading to the starting pitcher change on the 2nd. However, a Kiwoom official noted on the 1st that "Yoon Hyun is scheduled to start as planned against Doosan on the 2nd according to the rotation," adding, "We decided to give Jung Hyun-woo a short rest. His physical condition is normal, and there will be no changes to the entry."

He also added, "Details regarding Jung Hyun-woo's participation in the game on the 6th will be explained in the manager's briefing before tomorrow's game."

Meanwhile, on the 2nd in Gwangju, a matchup is predicted between Choi Won-tae (Samsung) and Kim Do-hyun (KIA), in Daejeon between Kim Jin-wook (Lotte) and Moon Dong-joo (Hanwha), and in Suwon between Eliezer Hernandez (LG) and Oh Won-seok (KT). The SSG-NC game in Changwon has been canceled for the entire three-game series from the 1st to the 3rd due to safety inspections at Changwon NC Park.

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