Won the first round of KIA Tigers nominations in the 2024 KBO Rookie Draft. Cho Dae-hyun, who is scheduled to graduate from Gangneung High School, the same high school as KIA Choi Ji-min, is a right-hander who is 193cm tall and 90kg tall and is expected to hit 152km/h in high RBIs. 스포츠토토
Originally, Cho Dae-hyun’s high school was Jangchung High School, not Gangneung High School. Hwang Joon-seo, a pitcher of the same grade, was transferred to Gangneung High School in the first grade because there were many huge pitchers such as Hanwha 1 and Yuk Sun-yeop 1 (Samsung 1 and Kim Yoon-ha 1).
Since the above players were selected by Hanwha, Samsung, and Kiwoom 1R in this draft, respectively, and he was also selected by Kia in the first round, looking back, transferring is a choice that Cho Dae-hyun has no regrets.
Looking at his high school senior performance, he has recorded 76K four walks and 27 walks in 18 games, seven wins, and no losses, ERA 1.29 and 62.2 innings so far. Cho Dae-hyun even served as a batter this year at the recommendation of the coach. He once showed the possibility of a second run with a batting average of more than 40%, but as summer approaches, his performance has gone down, recording a batting average in the late 200s.
In fact, Cho Dae-hyun did not receive much attention until his second year of high school. In the second grade, his grades were 1 win and 1 loss in 10 games, and ERA 6.19 speed was normal at 130 kilometers per hour.
It is not an exaggeration to say that the draft was turned upside down in just a year, but he said in an interview on YouTube’s “Yasin Yaduk” that “he learned his ability to run the game by playing a lot of practice games after the second grade season, and as a result of running and weighting hard, his physical strength became stronger and better, and he was able to naturally increase his speed.
It can be said that it has produced dramatic results without any changes in technology, but it is expected that it can be better if you join the professional and learn systematic training and skills.
Meanwhile, the KIA Tigers focused on securing excellent right-handed pitchers in this draft. Regarding Cho Dae-hyun, a youth-representative right-hander fireballer, KIA also expressed its review of the nomination, saying, “There is no reason not to pick him,” but it is said that if he gains more weight, he will be able to throw up to the mid-150km range.
Cho Dae-hyun, a fastball and slider two-pitch type, has an excellent physicality and fast fastball, but there is definitely a regret in the breaking ball part. The slider is not as fast as 120km/h, and the angle is not as sharp.
In addition, compared to the tremendous performance at the beginning of this season, the performance has fallen sharply due to a sharp drop in physical strength, and because of that, only 0.2 innings were thrown at the Youth Baseball Championship. However, it seems too early to judge it as a disadvantage as a newly nominated prospect, and if you adapt and learn well to the professional development system, you can change it.
