While watching the rookie draft on TV at home, the spotlight rookie who was delighted by being selected in the second round will finally make his first team debut.

Doosan Bears manager Lee Seung-yeop has designated high school rookie Choi Min-seok as the starting pitcher for the fourth season match against SSG Landers at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 21st.

Initially, according to the order, left-handed rookie Choi Seung-yong was supposed to take the mound. However, Choi Seung-yong suffered an injury when his left middle finger's nail broke during the game against Hanwha Eagles on the 15th and was removed from the first team the next day. After much deliberation, manager Lee Seung-yeop decided to give a chance to the 19-year-old rookie, who has been dominating the Futures League.

Choi Min-seok is a right-handed prospect selected by Doosan with the 16th pick in the second round of the 2025 rookie draft after graduating from Seoul High School. After Doosan selected infielder Park Jun-soon in the first round, Choi Min-seok received the honor of being the first pitcher selected.

Choi Min-seok was not invited to the 2025 KBO rookie draft held last September. Before the rookie draft, the KBO selects players expected to be picked high and invites them to the event, but Choi Min-seok's name was left out. As a result, he had to watch his name being called in the second round on TV instead of at the venue.

Immediately after exercising their second-round selection right, Doosan contacted the coach of Seoul High School, Choi Min-seok's alma mater, to locate him. Fortunately, Choi Min-seok's home was just a 5-minute drive from the venue, the Lotte Hotel World. After receiving the coach's call, Choi Min-seok hurriedly changed into his Seoul High School uniform and arrived at the draft venue, dramatically capturing a 'glorious two-shot' with Park Jun-soon.

According to Doosan officials, Choi Min-seok is a pitcher with a heavy fastball that reaches the upper 140 km/h range and has good control, and Doosan had been planning to select him in the higher rounds from the beginning.

Choi Min-seok became a Doosan player with a signing bonus of 150 million won. After preparing for his debut season at the Futures spring camp, he made his debut in the Futures League. He played his second team debut on April 23 against the Goyang Heroes and impressed with an overwhelming performance, recording an earned run average of 0.75 (1 earned run in 12 innings) over four games. In his most recent outing on the 14th against Goyang, he pitched 4⅔ innings, allowing 2 hits, 1 walk, and striking out 4 without allowing a run, completing his preparations for his first team debut.

Doosan fell into a four-game losing streak after losing 3-5 to SSG the previous day, marking about 40 days since their last win against LG Twins on April 12. They are currently in 9th place (19 wins, 2 draws, and 26 losses), two games behind 8th place Samsung Lions, struggling to find a way to bounce back. With Choi Min-seok bearing the heavy burden, it remains to be seen whether an unexpected player can save the team from this crisis.

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