158km. Rookie pitcher Kim Young-woo of the LG Twins set a new personal best speed.

On the 24th, Kim Young-woo took the mound as a relief pitcher in the ninth inning against the NC Dinos at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul. He entered the mound trailing 1-3 and finished the inning with one strikeout and three batters out. His top speed of 158km caught attention. LG lost 1-3, suffering their first losing series of the season, but Kim Young-woo's impressive fastball pitching was a source of comfort for LG fans.

Kim Young-woo faced the first batter, Do Tae-hoon, and handled him with a 155km fastball on the sixth pitch after a full count, resulting in a ground ball to the shortstop. He threw only one curveball and five fastballs, with fastball speeds ranging from 153km to 156km.

There was something more surprising. He threw a high fastball on the first pitch against Kim Hyung-jun. The scoreboard showed 158km. The crowd buzzed. Batter Kim Hyung-jun, after a swing and a miss, seemed taken aback by Kim Young-woo's fastball, flinching slightly in admiration. Following that, a 157km fastball was perfectly placed in the middle, but resulted in a swing and miss. The 156km fastball became a ball. He struck out Kim Hyung-jun with a swing and miss on the 157km fastball. Although Kim Hyung-jun swung three times, he never made contact with the ball.

After two outs, Kim Young-woo threw two 157km fastballs to Han Seok-hyun, resulting in a ground ball to the third baseman and ending the inning. Even when the bat made contact with the fastball, it was pushed back by its power.

Although Kim Young-woo warmed up in the bullpen in the ninth inning the day before but did not pitch, he threw 11 fastballs and one curveball that day. His fastball speed ranged from a low of 153km to a high of 158km. The average fastball speed was a remarkable 156km, with eight fastballs exceeding 156km.

He set a new personal best speed. Kim Young-woo made his debut on March 29 against NC in Changwon, throwing 157km for the first time in his life, and on this day, he set a new personal best at 158km.

Kim Young-woo was drafted by LG in the first round, 10th overall, in the 2025 rookie draft. After undergoing elbow surgery in his second year of high school and going through rehabilitation, his graduation was delayed by a year compared to his peers. In June of last year, he threw a top speed of 156km at the high school-university all-star game.

Last year, after being drafted by LG, he participated in the finishing camp in November, where he was recognized for his potential by the coaching staff early on. Manager Yeom Kyung-yeop welcomed the emergence of a pitcher who could throw over 150km.

Manager Yeom brought Kim Young-woo to the first-team spring camp and vowed to include him in the opening roster early on. In February, during the camp in Arizona, Manager Yeom expressed his expectations for Kim Young-woo, saying, "He reminds me of Doosan's Kim Taek-yeon." His fastball is his weapon, and his forkball and curveball are quite decent. If he stabilizes his control, he could develop into a player like Kim Taek-yeon.

Kim Young-woo has appeared in 10 games this season, recording an average earned run average of 3.00 with one hold. He has pitched 9 innings, allowing 6 hits, 5 walks, and recording 13 strikeouts, with a batting average against of .176 and a WHIP of 1.22. His strikeout ability is exceptional.

[OSEN]