15.2 billion Yang Eui-ji failed to meet the regulation innings humiliating season → Doosan is already in the process of generational change

Jan 07, 2025

Dustin Nippert, who will hold a retirement ceremony for KT and Doosan at Jamsil Baseball Stadium on the 14th, hugs Yang Eui-ji after the first pitch. Jamsil = Reporter Heo Sang-wook wook@sportschosun.com /2024.09.14/

2024 A meeting of bears was held at Jamsil Stadium on the 24th. Yang Eui-ji of Doosan is greeting. Jamsil = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2024.11.24/

For Yang Eui-ji of the Doosan Bears, 2024 was a season of humiliation. Yang Eui-ji, who has a ransom of 15.2 billion won, failed the catcher's defense rule innings. He was not even nominated for the Golden Glove. Has Doosan already started taking steps to change generations.

Yang Eui-ji played 608 ⅓ innings as a catcher in the 2024 season. It was the fewest innings of his career except for the 2021 season when he was unable to play defense due to injury. Yang Eui-ji immediately took charge of 773 innings in 2023.

Promising catcher Kim Ki-yeon took 579 innings. He split the inning almost one-on-one with Yang Eui-ji. Kim Ki-yeon is a catcher from Gwangju Jinheung High School who was nominated by LG in the fourth round of the second round of the 2016 Rookie Draft. It is Yang Eui-ji's direct junior. He was highly evaluated at LG at the time and was expected to be the next main catcher.

Yang Eui-ji, who was born in 1987, will enter the 38th season in 2025. Forty years old is not far away.

Considering this atmosphere, it is questionable whether Doosan has begun to prepare for the era of 'post Yang Eui-ji'.

In fact, it is too early for that to happen.

Doosan signed a large contract with Yang Eui-ji in 2023 with a total of 15.2 billion won for 4+2 years. It is possible to opt out after two years, but it is observed that it is unlikely. Yang Eui-ji has four years left on his contract with Doosan and is virtually 'Jongshin Doosan'.

No matter how much Doosan values internal development, it is not enough to retreat the large catcher who has completed the two-year contract to the second line.

Right now, Samsung's Kang Min-ho, who is two years older than Yang Eui-ji, wore a catcher mask for 803 innings in 2024. He proudly won the Golden Glove and showed off his strong performance. Yang Eui-ji is also old enough to play as the main catcher for at least two to three years.

Yang Eui-ji's playing time was only reduced because he had so many minor injuries last season. Yang Eui-ji also regretted that it was a really frustrating year to attend the offseason fan festival 'Bears' Gathering'. Doosan officials hinted that Yang Eui-ji is working hard to recover his honor in 2025.

Sportschosun DB

For Doosan, Yang Eui-ji is in charge of more than 720 innings. Although Kim Ki-yeon showed good performance last year, she has no experience as a full-time catcher. It is still stable to grow by safely gaining experience step by step under the shadow of Yang Eui-ji.

In addition, Doosan's infield first began a generational change as Kim Jae-ho retired and Huh Kyung-min moved to KT. Radical generational change poses a greater risk of confusion. In the catcher's position, where stability is essential, Yang Eui-ji must take the center stage and play a mental support role.

Therefore, the defensive innings of Kim Ki-yeon, not Yang Eui-ji, are expected to decrease slightly in 2025. It is desirable for Yang Eui-ji to regain his consistency to the level of 2023 and for Kim Ki-yeon and Jang Seung-hyun and Ryu Hyun-jun to increase their stakes little by little.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.