Will Samsung Lions’ first-rounder Yuk Seon-yeop (19) get a chance in the first team of the 2025 season.
When he was a high school senior, Yuk played as the team’s ace. When he was a high school senior, he had two wins and an earned run average of 0.41 (one earned run in 21 ⅔ innings) in 12 games during the 2023 season. Yuk, who was considered the biggest fish in the 2024 rookie draft along with Hwang Joon-seo, Kim Taek-yeon, and Jeon Mir, wore the Samsung uniform as the fourth overall pick in the first round. Yuk signed a down payment of 250 million won with Samsung.
Although he joined the pro league, he spent more time in the second division than in the first division in the 2024 season. In the 2024 season, he pitched in 11 games. He showed that he still needs more growth with an earned run average (5.29) that exceeds five points.
He exposed his limits in the first division, but displayed good performance in the Futures League. At the 2024 Futures League, Yuk recorded two losses and two saves with an ERA of 2.70. It was encouraging to see him achieve an ERA of two points in the first year of the Futures League. 먹튀검증
After the end of the season, Yuk went to study for the Brisbane Bandits in the Australian Baseball League. He has shown potential in Australia. Yuk pitched in nine games with an ERA of 1.59, showing stellar performance. After striking out 13, he returned to Korea on the 17th. Yuk also showed the possibility that he will follow the path of Lee Seung-hyun (left-hander), who has improved his skills after studying in Australia.
As Samsung has selected him in the upper round, chances are high that he will increase his chances to play in the first team of the 2025 season. If he is in the first team, he will likely be used as a bullpen rather than a starter. Samsung’s starting rotation has been completely formed with Ariel Furado, Danny Reyes, Won Tae-in, Choi Won-tae and Lee Seung-hyun. As alternative starting resources are Hwang Dong-jae and others, there is no room for Yuk to play.
In fact, he was given the opportunity by the relief team rather than the starting pitcher in the Futures League. He pitched in 16 of the 20 games he played in this season’s Futures League. He started in April, but played as a midfielder in all games since May. As he is accustomed to playing intermediate roles, chances are slim that Samsung will forcefully start.
If Yuk Seon-yeop succeeds in settling down quickly in the first division, Samsung will be able to deal with its biggest weakness, the bullpen. Samsung, which was unstable with 5.16 ERA in 2023, invested a total of 8.8 billion won (8.8 billion won for Kim Jae-yoon, 800 million won for two years, and 2.2 billion won for Oh Seung-hwan) in reinforcing the back door, ranking second in the league by lowering its ERA to 4.97 this season.
Kim Jae-yoon, Lim Chang-min, and Oh Seung-hwan are all elderly veterans. Kim Jae-yoon is 35, and Oh Seung-hwan is the oldest player in the league (43). Lim Chang-min (40) is also in his 40s. It remains to be seen whether Yuk Seon-yeop will realize his potential as the fourth player and become a new hope for Samsung’s bullpen.
