For the first time since its foundation, professional baseball Kiwoom Heroes will select a rookie player as the first overall pick in the full draft. 먹튀검증

The KBO will hold the "2025 KBO Rookie Draft" at the World Crystal Ballroom at Lotte Hotel in Seoul on Wednesday. It will be the third full-draft starting from the 2023 rookie draft, which has been reorganized into a full-draft, and will run through the 11th round. Kiwoom, which finished last season at the bottom, has the first overall pick. 

Following last year's rookie draft, Kiwoom is expected to receive the most attention in this year's rookie draft. Kiwoom, which is actively pursuing a strategy of collecting rookie nominations through recent trades, was able to exercise as many as six nominations within the top 30 in the last draft, including the 8th (Jeon Joon-pyo), 9th (Kim Yoon-ha), 16th (Lee Jae-sang), 19th (Son Hyun-ki), 24th (Lee Woo-hyun), and 29th (Kim Yeon-ju). As a result of actively gathering rookie nominations this year, it secured the 1st, 7th, 11th, 21st, 27th, and 28th overall nominations. Including the 31st nominations in the fourth round, it has secured as many as seven of the top 31 nominations. 

Unlike the last rookie draft, which had many nomination rights but had the fastest nomination rights of only eight, Kiwoom can exercise the first overall nomination rights in this draft. This means that it can select the best player among the promising players in this year's draft. 

Early this year, right-handed ace Jung Woo-joo of Jeonju High School was considered the undisputed No. 1 candidate. Jung Woo-joo, who throws fast balls up to 150 kilometers per hour, was recognized for her great potential to the Major League. He recorded four wins, one loss and an ERA of 1.58 in 16 games (45 ⅔ innings) in total for high school, and displayed outstanding pitching capabilities with strikeouts per nine innings reaching 15.77. 

As the season wore on, however, left-hander Chung Hyeon-woo hit the ball. His maximum speed is around 150 kilometers, and although not as fast as Chung, Chung is considered a complete pitcher with both sharp breaking balls and sophisticated ball control. He posted 11 wins, one loss and an earned run average of 1.24 in 29 games (101 ⅓ innings). 

Although there are still pros and cons as Jung Woo-joo is recognized for his outstanding talent, most experts predict that Kiwoom will appoint Jung Hyun-woo. Kiwoom already has right-handed ace Ahn Woo-jin (currently serving in the military), and there are also right-handed rookie pitchers such as Kim Yoon-ha and Jeon Jun-pyo who are looking forward to next season. On the other hand, they have yet to discover left-handed pitchers who can join the starting rotation. There are not many clear left-handed pitchers in the bullpen as well. Chung, who is evaluated as a perfect type, is a promising player who can quickly contribute to the first team. 

Kiwoom's general manager Ko Hyung-wook said on the 10th, "Of course, I can't say who I'll nominate yet," but added, "Of course, I've already decided. It's been confirmed without any intention of changing it. I'm worried about who to nominate for the seventh time. I want to prepare well and pick our favorite player," expressing confidence in the first-place designation player. 

As Kiwoom can appoint new players first, there is no need to worry about the first choice. On the contrary, the seventh choice is different. Depending on which players Hanwha, Samsung, Lotte, KIA and Doosan will nominate between the first and seventh pickings, Kiwoom can also make a big difference. 

Currently, the players who are being discussed a lot are Bae Chan-seung, left-hander Kim Tae-hyung of Daegu High School, left-hander Kim Tae-hyun of Gwangju Il High School, and infielder Park Joon-soon of Deok High School. In particular, Park Joon-soon, the biggest fish of fielders, is the hot potato of the draft. As many clubs are considering the selection of pitchers as good as the pitching pool is good, the draft may change depending on which team will nominate Park Joon-soon, the biggest fish of fielders. Kiwoom is in a position to nominate the player who thinks highly of the players who come down as there are many variables in the 7th place. If Park Joon-soon is nominated before the 7th place, there is a high possibility that he will nominate a pitcher. 

It is the second time that Kiwoom has picked the first overall pick in the draft. The first was the 2013 rookie draft, which Kiwoom picked for the first time. However, it was not really the first overall pick because NC, a new team at the time, was able to pick two players first. Still, Kiwoom got a strong finishing pitcher who has been doing great so far by picking Cho Sang-woo. And this year, it will be the first time to pick a rookie.

Fans are watching with interest what choice Kiwoom, which has won the first overall nomination in 12 years, will make and what future it will face.