The reason why Doosan ranked ninth in the starting innings, 7.8 billion Eom Sang-baek 7 billion Choi Won-tae didn't even look at it → The starting pitcher against Korea and Japan will come full time!

Dec 18, 2024

The Premier 12 baseball team played against Japan at Taipei Dome in Taiwan on the 15th. Starting pitcher Choi Seung-yong. Taipei (Taiwan) = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2024.11.15/

The game between the Doosan Bears and KT Wiz in the second round of the wild card decision at Jamsil Stadium on the 3rd. Choi Seung-yong and Kim Ki-yeon of Doosan are talking. Jamsil=Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2024.10.03/

The Doosan Bears had a tough season this year as the starting lineup collapsed. The starting innings ranked ninth in the league. However, Doosan didn't even pay attention to big-name starters in the FA market. Doosan believes that it is possible to fight back just by replacing foreigners and fostering domestic starters. Kwak Bin, the king of the most wins, is in good shape, and Premier 12 'Korea-Japan starting pitcher'Choi Seung-yong will start full-time in 2025.

Doosan's starters pitched 683 ⅓ innings in the 2024 season. The only team with fewer starting innings than Doosan was the Hanwha Eagles (675 innings). He ranked eighth with a 5.07 starting ERA and 42 quality starts, respectively. Meanwhile, Doosan finished the regular season in fourth place. It means that the strength of the bullpen was that great, but at the same time, it was also consumed. Reinforcing the starting lineup was a must.

Just in time, Um Sang-baek and Choi Won-tae came out in the FA market. They are players with guaranteed full-time starting rotation. It is a resource that is expected to increase power for sure no matter which team it goes to. Hanwha took Um Sang-baek for four years and 7.8 billion won. Choi Won-tae signed a four-year contract with Samsung for a total of 7 billion won. Doosan is not out as the ransom competition is overheated. Doosan didn't even approach it in the first place.

For now, Doosan replaced two foreign pitchers with certainty. Doosan completely failed to farm foreigners in 2024. Raul Alcantara injured his elbow and dropped out after 12 games. He brought in Jordan Balazovic as a substitute, but he was disappointed with his 2-6 record and 4.34 ERA in 11 games. Brandon Waddell, who was doing his part, was also out in the first half of the season. The successor, Keisho Shirakawa, also had a whopping 603 ERA with 2 wins and 3 losses in seven games. Doosan formed a one-two punch by recruiting Cole Irvin, an active Major League starter, and Thomas Hatch, a former member of the Japanese Professional Baseball (NPB).

First, Irvin appeared in 134 games (93 starts) in six major league seasons, recording 28 wins, 40 losses and an ERA of 4.54. In 2024, he played 111 innings in 29 games (16 starts), not bad with 6 wins, 6 losses and a 5.11 ERA. Hatch advanced to Japan after leaving a 4.96 ERA with 4 wins, 4 losses and 6 holds in 39 games in four major league seasons. In the NPB's first division, he played only five games as a member of Hiroshima Toyokaf, but proved a high possibility with a 2.36 ERA in 72 innings in the second division.

A game between the Doosan Bears and KT Wiz in the first round of the wild card decision at Jamsil Stadium on the 2nd. Kwak Bin of the Doosan Bears is catching his breath. Jamsil = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2024.10.02/

The Korean national baseball team participating in the Premier 12 trained at Gocheok Sky Dome on the 29th. Choi Seung-yong in training. Gocheok = Reporter Heo Sang-wook wook@sportschosun.com /2024.10.29/

The domestic selection will be led by Kwak Bin. He will go on a 10-win hunt for the third consecutive year. Above all, Choi Seung-yong is looking forward to 'Healthy'. After the 2023 season, he focused on rehabilitating the fracture with elbow fatigue. As the return approached, the bad luck of undergoing appendectomy overlapped. It was not until August after the first half of the year. After seizing the starting pitcher for the wild card game against KT Wiz, he was selected as the starting pitcher for the Premier 12 match against Korea and Japan. Doosan will enter the spring camp after establishing a clear four starters, from foreigners 1-2 to Kwak Bin and Choi Seung-yong.

There are also quite a lot of candidates for the fifth selection. Choi Won-joon, a 10-win pitcher in 2020 and 2021, is aiming for a rebound. Choi Won-jun was second in the team after Kwak Bin with 24 starts in 2024. Rookie Choi Joon-ho, who gained experience by receiving a chance to select 15 games this year, is also expected to step up. Fireballer Kim Yoo-sung is also a prospect to compete for a starting position.

dhhan@sportschosun.com