Rookie pitcher Park Si-won (19) of the professional baseball team LG Twins made an impressive professional debut, throwing a refreshing fastball at 150 km/h.
On the 2nd at Busan Sajik Stadium, in a game between the LG Twins and the Lotte Giants, Park Si-won took the mound in the bottom of the eighth inning, trailing 2-5. This was Park Si-won's professional debut after being called up to the first team on the 1st.
The first batter was 'batting king' Reyes. In a pressure situation for a rookie on his debut, Park Si-won threw a fastball at 153 km/h on the first pitch, followed by four consecutive fastballs at 153 km/h, resulting in a 2 balls-2 strikes count. The fifth pitch was a forkball that was a ball, and on a full count, a 154 km/h fastball became a ball, leading to a walk.
With no outs and a runner on first base, he recorded his first out by getting Jeon Jun-woo, who hit a two-run homer earlier in the day, to pop out to center field. Four consecutive fastballs thrown to Kim Min-sung resulted in balls. The speed slightly decreased to 148-150 km/h.
With one out and runners on first and second, he got Jeon Min-jae to pop out to left field for the second out, and against Park Seung-wook, his fastball speed increased again. He threw four fastballs at 151-152 km/h and finished the inning without allowing any runs with a ground ball to first base.
In one inning, he allowed two walks without giving up a run, and his fastball at 150 km/h was impressive. Out of 18 pitches, 16 were fastballs, with one forkball and one slider. Thirteen of the 16 fastballs exceeded 150 km/h, with a maximum speed of 154 km/h and an average of 151.1 km/h.
Park Si-won was a hot topic during the KBO 2025 Rookie Draft held in September last year. When the LG Twins selected Park Si-won in the sixth round (60th overall), he burst into tears at the draft venue.
Park Si-won explained about his tears, saying, “I had some expectations about which round I might get picked in, and people around me, including my middle school coach, said I might be picked in the 2nd or 3rd round. I went to the draft venue with those expectations. But after the 2nd and 3rd rounds passed without my name being called, I started to feel that something was wrong, and as I went through the 4th and 5th rounds without my name being called, I thought I might not get picked at all. Then when I got picked in the 6th round, I burst into tears.”
Park Si-won, who graduated from Centum Middle School and Gyeongnam High School in Busan, developed a passion for baseball after watching the fourth game of the Korean Series between Doosan and NC at Masan Stadium in 2016. He said, “Watching Doosan win made me think that I would like to be at the championship scene as a player one day. I was in my fourth year and begged my parents to let me play baseball.”
At first, he started baseball by registering in a hobby class at a Little League baseball team. Park Si-won said, “My parents also liked baseball, and I enjoyed watching games at Sajik Stadium since I was young,” adding, “When I expressed my desire to play baseball, they discouraged me, thinking I would quit midway. They thought I would stop, but I was determined and persisted.
He started officially playing baseball in the 5th grade after beginning as a hobby in the middle of 4th grade. He was 178 cm tall when he graduated from elementary school. Park Si-won said, “Since I was tall, I was encouraged to pitch. In middle school, I pitched faster than my peers. In my first year of high school, I reached 144 km/h.”
Park Si-won is relatively tall at 193 cm. He recorded a maximum fastball speed of 150 km/h in his third year of high school. Park Si-won noted, “I unofficially threw up to 151 km/h.” The LG scouting team assessed, “He has good fastball speed and strength at the ball's finish. He has good ability to throw fastballs and breaking balls.”
Last year's finishing camp, manager Youm Kyoung-youb closely watched four new players who could throw fastballs over 150 km/h: Kim Young-woo, Choo Se-hyeon, Park Si-won, and Kim Jong-woon, with the intention to bring them to the first team spring camp this year. Due to limitations on the number of participants in the camp, Park Si-won and Kim Jong-woon remained at the Icheon first team camp.
This year, Park Si-won recorded 3 wins and 2 losses with an earned run average of 5.64 in 10 games in the Futures League. He was officially registered as a player from a developmental player status on the 1st and was called up to the first team.
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