Professional baseball player Baechan-seung (19) of the Samsung Lions successfully completed his first All-Star Game.
On the 12th, Baechan-seung made his appearance as a relief pitcher for the Dream All-Stars at the '2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO All-Star Game' held at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark, showcasing a perfect inning with 1 strikeout and no runs.
Baechan-seung, who took the mound in the bottom of the third inning with the Dream All-Stars trailing 4-7, got the first batter Park Hae-min (LG) out with a fly ball to right field. He struck out Park Chan-ho (KIA) swinging and also retired Moon Hyun-bin (Hanwha) with a ground ball to first base, ending the inning flawlessly with three outs. In the fourth inning, he handed the mound over to Lee Ro-un, concluding his appearance for the day.
Baechan-seung recorded 10 pitches, utilizing a fastball (8 pitches) and a slider (2 pitches). His fastest pitch reached a speed of 154 kilometers per hour, with an average speed of 152 kilometers per hour. Despite Baechan-seung's strong performance, the Dream All-Stars lost 6-8.
Drafted in the first round (3rd pick) of the 2025 rookie draft, Baechan-seung has recorded a commendable performance in his debut season with 42 games (33⅓ innings), 1 loss, 10 holds, and an earned run average of 4.32. Although there have been some shaky games, he plays an important role in the Samsung bullpen, showing good form.
Thanks to his performance, Baechan-seung ranked first among the Best 12 in the middle pitcher category with 1,102,268 votes in the All-Star fan voting. Though he lost to Jeong Cheol-won (Lotte, 1,360,606 votes) in the fan voting, he received a significant number of votes in the players' voting (Baechan-seung 129 votes, Jeong Cheol-won 64 votes) and was narrowly selected for the Dream All-Stars Best 12.
Baechan-seung, selected for the All-Star in his debut year, expressed his feelings about the All-Star Game in a pre-game interview, saying, "I feel really good to be in such an honorable position. Now that I have become an All-Star, it feels a bit real. I want to say thank you once again to those who voted for me."
Regarding being selected as one of the Best 12 to come to the All-Star Game, Baechan-seung said, "I was able to come here because many people voted. I also received many votes in the players’ voting, which makes me really happy," and emphasized that it has a deeper meaning.
Speaking about his performance in the All-Star Game, Baechan-seung said, "I think it would be good if I can pitch well, but since it’s a place where the best players have gathered, it won’t be easy. I think it will be challenging to strike out all the batters, so I will do my best to make quick outs." True to his words, he finished his first All-Star Game appearance flawlessly with three outs.
Having successfully wrapped up the first half of the season after stepping onto the professional stage for the first time this year, Baechan-seung remarked, "I still think there are many areas where I feel somewhat regretful. I regret having allowed quite a few baserunners," adding, "My goal for the second half is to reduce the walks and hits allowed that I regretted from the first half. I will become a reliable bullpen pitcher."
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