Doosan Bears manager Lee Seung-yeop made an unusual bitter remark. It is about Choi Won-joon, a pitcher who went down to the second division.
Ahead of the match against the SSG Landers in Incheon on Thursday, Doosan removed Choi from the entry list of the main league team. Choi took the mound as the starting pitcher at the match against the SSG on Sunday, and became a losing pitcher as he displayed poor pitching by allowing five hits (three homers) and five strikeouts, one walk and six runs in three innings. The loss was attributable to Choi Jeong, Park Sung-han and Han Yu-seom allowing as many as three home runs.
Choi won the game against the KT Wiz on March 27. In his first game of the previous season, he became a shy winning pitcher by allowing five runs in five innings, but he now has a 12.38 ERA in two games. The coaching staff has also made a decision.
Coach Lee Seung-yeop told reporters before the match on Thursday, “Choi had to throw a ball to overwhelm the opponent in two games, but he was overwhelmed. Actually, I can’t feel the merit as a starting pitcher. I have no confidence that I will win by fighting against the opponent.”
In the spring camp and exhibition games, he clearly showed better performance than last year. There was hope that he would regain his power. However, the performance in the two games after the season’s opening was disappointing. “I have yet to display the ball power that I displayed at the camp. I was shaken as I had a lot of thoughts in the count in my favor. I was trying to throw a full ball, but I was shaken. As I am losing confidence, I think I am getting more thoughts. I think I should try to come up as high as possible after training in the second team,” he said.
“In fact, Choi has made a lot of effort since last fall’s training. The result hasn’t come out yet, but I’m glad that we had such ups and downs at the beginning of the season. Shouldn’t he be the starting pitcher anyway? I hope he trains well and gains confidence,” he said.
Doosan should select a substitute for the fourth starting position without Choi Won-joon. Kim Min-kyu and Park Shin-ji are likely candidates. Park Shin-ji is scheduled to start at the Lotte Giants match in Busan on the 7th, when Choi was scheduled to take the mound.