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| Lee Jong-yeol, head of the Samsung Lions (left), and Choi Won-tae. Photo courtesy of Samsung Lions |
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| The Samsung Lions signed former Kiwoom Ariel Furado. Photo courtesy of Samsung Lions |
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He finished third in the league. Nevertheless, he opened his wallet for sure.
After the end of last year's season, the Samsung Lions signed a four-year contract with outside FA Choi Won-tae for a total of 7 billion won (2.4 billion won in down payment, 3.4 billion won in annual salary, 1.2 billion won in incentives).
Samsung's reasons were clear. The starting reinforcement was needed. Samsung said "Choi Won-tae proved his consistency by taking charge of 1,073 ⅓ innings, the third-largest overall in the KBO League, as a starting pitcher for eight years since 2017. "He has stable ball control to throw six pitches, including four-seam fastball, two-seam fastball, cut fastball, slider, curveball, and change-up. We expect Choi Won-tae, who will turn 28 next year, to give new strength to the starting lineup.", he explained.
Last year, Samsung had a total of 12 players as starting agents. Foreign players Denny Reyes, Conor Seabold, and Won Tae-in were clear starting agents. All of them won double-digit games to support Samsung's starters.
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| Game 5 of the Korean Series between KIA and Samsung at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on the 28th. Samsung's Lee Seung-hyun, who is pitching as a starter. Gwangju =Song Jeong-heon, Reporter Song@sportschosun.com/2024.10.28/ |
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The 4th and 5th starters were not bad either. Left-hander Lee Seung-hyun had a 6-4 record with a 4.23 ERA in 17 games, and 'Veteran' Baek Jung-hyun had a 6-4 record with a 5.88 ERA in 15 games. Lee Ho-sung, who joined the rookie draft in 2023 (8th overall) in the first round, also gained experience with 2 wins, 4 losses and a 7.40 ERA in 16 appearances. In addition, Kim Dae-woo, Kim Dae-ho, Kim Dae-ho, Yuk Sun-yeop, Lee Seung-min, Choi Chae-heung, and Hwang Dong-jae took the mound as starters.
Last year, Samsung's starters had an ERA of 4.49. He ranked third after the Kia Tigers (4.10) and the LG Twins (4.26). He was evaluated as not as bad as the starting lineup in the league last year, but he has established a solid starting lineup by recruiting Choi Won-tae.
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| Game 3 of the Korean Series between KIA and Samsung at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on the 25th. Samsung Reyes coming down the mound after pitching in the first inning. Daegu=Song Jeong-heon, Reporter Song@sportschosun.com/2024.10.25/ |
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He re-signed Reyes, who had 11 wins, 4 losses and a 3.81 ERA in 26 games last year, and recruited Ariel Furado, whose suspension was lifted without renewing his contract at Kiwoom, for a total of $1 million. Furado appeared in 30 games last year and recorded 23 quality starts (more than 6 innings and less than 3 earned runs), leaving a 10-8 record with a 3.36 ERA.
Won Tae-in, who won 15 wins last year, is preparing for the season well and has four clear starting agents as he has Choi Won-tae.
The fifth starter is also well-resourced. Lee Seung-hyun, who was excluded from the first-team entry due to a hamstring injury in August last year, made a solid return, throwing a ball on the Korean Series stage.
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| The second game of the Korean Series between Samsung and KIA at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on the 23rd. Samsung starter Hwang Dong-jae is pitching. Gwangju = Reporter Jeong Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2024.10.23/ |
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In December last year, Hwang went to Cressey Sports Performance (CSP), a baseball program facility in West Palm Beach, Florida, to receive intensive training. At the time, the club explained that `we are going to establish a training routine to improve control.'
In addition, Baek Jung-hyun, who won 14 games in 2021, is aiming to revive once again, and Lee Ho-sung and Lee Seung-min are also planning to ignite the competition for selection this season using their experience last year.
It is evaluated that all five starters have the ability to win more than 10 games. In the history of the KBO League, there have been a total of five players who have won double-digit games. The main characters are the Haitai Tigers in 1992 and 1993, Hyundai Unicorns in 1998, Samsung in 2015, and Doosan Bears in 2018.
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The 2015 professional baseball game between the Hanwha Eagles and the Samsung Lions was held at Daegu Stadium on the 14th. In the bottom of the first inning, Samsung Navarro hit a solo home run and Cloyd, who received a commemorative doll, is pretending to be angry when Figaro covets the doll.
Daegu=Reporter Jeong Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2015.05.14/ |
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Among them, Samsung is the only one to win double-digit wins as a starter in 2015. At that time, Yoon Sung-hwan (17 wins), Alfredo Figaro (13 wins), Cha Woo-chan (13 wins, 1 win for relief), Tyler Cloyd (11 wins) and Jang Won-sam (10 wins) won in double digits as starters for Samsung. Samsung ranked first in the regular season with all-time starters.
Samsung finished second in the regular season last year and finished the Korean Series as the runner-up. The resurgence of the milestone 10 years ago could be the most powerful weapon for Samsung's dream presidential race.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
