Finally, he took off No. 111, which he had worn for two years, and put on No. 43. Promising pitcher Heo Yong-joo, who had to play as a nurturing player, finally becomes an official player and starts pitching hard.

After graduating from Yongma High School, Heo Yong-ju, who joined as the 67th member in the seventh round in 2023, underwent elbow surgery as soon as he joined the team. And last season, when he returned, he threw a fastball over 150km to raise expectations, but he encountered a control problem.

Coach Yeom Kyung-yeop came forward for faster growth. Yeom judged that it is more necessary for him to strengthen his basic skills through practice than to pitch in a real game without proper form, and called in Heo every home game in Jamsil to have him train in person to watch his performance. The training that Heo said was about reducing backswing. "Coach said the backswing was too big, so I kept practicing throwing small," he said.안전놀이터

Judging that he was in good form, he took the mound for practical games in the Futures League in September, the last minute of this season, and it was effective. He had five hits and three walks during three ⅓ innings in four games. Notably, he did not yield any walks in the first three games.

That was not the end of his training. During the final training session, he participated in the final training session for his sister team, the Chunichi Dragons of Japan, and learned how to play the Chunichi Dragons. After the Chunichi training session, Hur continued his training with coach Kim Kwang-sam to refine his control.

"I also had better control than I thought in the second-tier game," said Heo Yong-joo, expressing confidence in his ball control, saying, "I pitched the bullpen and did live pitching in Japan, but there was no walk, and I only went near the strike zone without missing much fastballs."

Now, it is time to show the results of one year's hard work to the coaching staff, teammates and fans. First, they prepare through basic training and practice games in the first camp of Arizona and the second camp of Okinawa, and throw them properly in exhibition games.

"I hope to grow up right away this season and become a good pitcher, but I'm drawing such a picture of growing into a key player next season by receiving the opportunity this year," manager Yeom said, viewing this year as a season to gain experience.

In an interview during the final training session last year, Hur said his goal for the 2025 season is to "throw a fastball in the first team no matter what." Will he be able to see him throw fastballs up to 155 kilometers at Jamsil Stadium this year? It is time to reap the fruits.