Professional baseball player Joo Seung-woo (25) of the Kiwoom Heroes could not hide his nervousness ahead of his first All-Star game.
Joo Seung-woo will participate as a sharing All-Star in the '2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO All-Star Game' held at Hanwha Life Park in Daejeon on the 12th. Although he did not make it into the top 12 in fan voting, he was selected as an All-Star as a manager's recommended player.
Joo Seung-woo, who joined Kiwoom as the first overall pick in the 2022 rookie draft, showed potential last season by serving as a closer for the first time, recording 4 wins, 6 losses, 5 holds, and 14 saves with an earned run average of 4.35 over 55 games (51⅔ innings), and he earned the honor of being named an All-Star this season with a record of 2 wins, 1 loss, 4 holds, and 13 saves with an earned run average of 2.36 over 33 games (34⅓ innings).
"I couldn't sleep much yesterday because I was nervous," said Joo Seung-woo. "I don't get nervous playing baseball, but I am really anxious about the performance. I am not preparing an amazing performance, but I usually get nervous when performing. Even when I had to showcase my talents as a rookie, I couldn't sleep for several days. I am so nervous."
Making his All-Star game debut, Joo Seung-woo said, "I am really happy to meet the players I wanted to meet and to play baseball together. There are so many great players." Joo Seung-woo, who had expressed a desire to meet closers like Kim Taek-yoon (Doosan) and Kim Seo-hyeon (Hanwha), mentioned, "Kim Taek-yoon is my favorite pitcher, and Kim Seo-hyeon is the best closer," adding, "I talked a bit with them today," while smiling.
"When the game starts and I go to the bullpen, I want to ask them more questions," said Joo Seung-woo, adding, "I want to ask what they think about while pitching on the mound." Kim Taek-yoon has a record of 1 win, 2 losses, and 15 saves with an earned run average of 3.00 over 40 games (45 innings), while Kim Seo-hyeon has a record of 1 win, 1 loss, 1 hold, and 22 saves with an earned run average of 1.55 over 42 games (40⅔ innings).
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