Maximum speed of 160km, average speed of 157km.

Hanwha Eagles pitcher Moon Dong-joo recorded an exceptional fastball speed in his first appearance of the spring game. He reached a top speed of 159.7km.

Moon Dong-joo took the mound in the bottom of the sixth inning against SSG in the 2025 KBO League spring game at Incheon SSG Landers Field on the 11th, leading 8-0. Before the game, Manager Kim Kyung-moon noted, "Moon Dong-joo will go out in the sixth inning today."

Moon Dong-joo, who sprinted from the bullpen, threw powerful fastballs even during his practice pitches. The speed of his last practice pitch was displayed as 158km on the scoreboard, prompting tremendous cheers from the stands.

In his first at-bat against Eredia, Moon Dong-joo threw a fastball at 153km on the first pitch and 155km on the second. He got an out by throwing a 142km slider for a pop-up to left field on the third pitch. Against Han Yu-seom, he threw two consecutive fastballs at 157km to induce a foul and a swing-and-miss. He recorded a strikeout on a 157km fastball for the sixth pitch.

After two outs, a fastball recorded at 159km on the scoreboard against Ko Myung-jun was the fastest pitch of the day. Subsequently, he allowed a walk after throwing a 158km fastball on the fifth pitch and a 155km fastball on the seventh pitch that were both high. With two outs and one runner on base, he ended the duel against Park Ji-hwan with three off-speed pitches: a slider (137km), a curve (124km), and a slider (136km), striking out to finish the inning.

He pitched one inning, recording one walk, two strikeouts, no hits, and no earned runs. His pitch count was 19, with a maximum fastball speed of 160km. The Hanwha organization noted, "The maximum speed of 160km is rounded from 159.7km based on the TrackMan data." He threw eight fastballs, one two-seam fastball (144km), four sliders, three curves, and three forkballs.

After the game, Moon Dong-joo shared his feelings through the team's publicity team. He said, "It’s been a while since I pitched in a real game on the mound, and I'm satisfied that I pitched healthily rather than focusing on speed. Since it was my first time pitching in a while, I felt a bit excited, but I believe there won’t be any major issues once my game sense is sharp."

He also said, "I want to return to being a starter as soon as possible to help the team, and I will strive to repay the fans who always support me."

Moon Dong-joo, who joined Hanwha as the first overall pick in 2022, recorded an 8-8 record with a 3.72 earned run average over 23 games (118⅔ innings) in 2023, winning the Rookie of the Year award. Last year, he struggled with a 7-7 record and a 5.17 earned run average over 21 games, and he ended his season early in September due to a shoulder injury while the team was still in the playoff hunt.

He was slow to build his condition during spring camp due to fully rehabilitating his shoulder. Although he was designated as the fifth starter, he pitched for the first time in the spring game and threw one inning. To join the starting rotation right from the opening, he needs to increase his pitch count to around 70-80.

Moon Dong-joo plans to pitch two more times in the remaining spring games. He is set to pitch against Lotte on the 14th and against Samsung on the 18th.

Manager Kim Kyung-moon discussed Moon Dong-joo's pitching schedule before the game, saying, "After resting for a day or two, he will pitch again, then rest for two days, so we will have an evening game. Since it will be his first evening game, it might be a little chilly, so he will pitch in the last game after resting for three days. If he can throw over 150km, how can we not use him as the fifth starter?"

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