Kim Jin-wook has been released from the organization

Right-hander Kim Jin-wook (24), one of the top pitching prospects for the Hanwha Eagles, has been released from the organization. His departure became official when he was announced as a voluntary terminated player to the KBO on March 13.

According to Article 31 of the KBO’s rules, a voluntarily terminated player is a player who has applied to the club to terminate the player’s contract during the participation period or pending period, and the club has approved the application, and the player’s contract has been terminated because the club has recognized that the player does not wish to continue or renew the player’s contract.

Usually, players who have decided to play abroad or retire through the posting system are listed as voluntarily terminated players. Unlike major leaguers Lee Jung-hoo (formerly of Kiwoom) and Ko Woo-seok (formerly of LG), 바카라사이트 who were registered as voluntary termination players on the 14th, Kim Jin-wook requested his own release.

According to the 2024 roster released by the KBO on Thursday,

Kim was one of 60 official Hanwha players. He was included in the team’s plans for this year, but he requested to be released from the team in late January and left the team ahead of spring training in February. On March 25, he posted on his social media, “It was a very happy time. Thank you,” he wrote on his social media, hinting at his retirement.

The reason was an elbow injury. The Futures League game against NC at Seosan Stadium on August 8 last year was Kim’s last official appearance, and he has been in rehabilitation for elbow pain ever since. As the pain didn’t get better, Kim was troubled and eventually requested to leave the team.

Although he didn”t have surgery on his elbow, the pain persisted and scared him. He made this decision after soberly evaluating how competitive he would be even if he recovered.

A voluntary suspension allows a player to return one year after the announcement to the KBO commissioner if he submits an application for reinstatement and is granted permission. If Kim changes his mind a year from now, he has the option to return, but it doesn’t seem likely at this point.

Kim Jin-wook, a right-handed pitcher from Yushin, was drafted by Hanwha with the 94th overall pick in the 10th round of the 2018 draft. He went largely unnoticed due to his small stature at 5-foot-10, but was a surprise inclusion in the first-team spring training from his rookie year in 2018. Han Yong-duk, the Hanwha manager at the time, liked Kim’s technical skills as a pitcher, including his consistent release point and wrist snap.

After changing his pitching form from a three-quarter to an overhand,

He increased his velocity up to 150 kilometers. He developed in the Futures League and made a brief but strong impression in three games (5⅔ innings) with the first team in his rookie year. He made his first-team debut on April 20 against Daejeon Nexen, pitching one inning of relief in the ninth inning, striking out one and walking none. He surprised fans by throwing a fastball up to 151 kilometers per hour.

In 2019, he only made one appearance in the first team, but in 2020, he stepped up his game as a starter and middle reliever. In 22 games (6 starts – 44⅔ innings), he went 3-4 with one save and a 5.64 ERA. On September 9 of that year, he earned his first career win in the second game of a doubleheader against Samsung Electronics in Daegu, South Korea, throwing six innings of two-hit ball with two walks and two strikeouts while throwing a fastball that topped out at 149 mph.

Warwick Suffield, Hanwha’s foreign pitcher at the time, 토토사이트 추천 said, “Watch Jin-Wook Kim. He has good pitches. I think he will be a good starting pitcher for Hanwha if he gains experience. He is so attractive that I want to give him everything I have.” He also praised Kim for following him around and asking to learn from him.

However, 2020 would be Kim’s last season in the first team.

He took a two-year hiatus during the July 2021 season to fulfill his military obligation as a social service worker. He returned to the team after his release in April last year and spent two months building his body.

He upped his fastball to 147 mph and pitched well in Futures League action in June, going 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA in six games (six innings). In addition to his fastball and curveball, he’s been working on a changeup against lefties to diversify his repertoire. Just when he was in the midst of his push to return to the first team, he was plagued by injuries and decided to call it quits at the early age of 24. He dreamed of a 10-round success story, but it never blossomed, and he walked off the mound himself.