Why Doosan did not even look at '9th in the starting innings' Eom Sang-baek-7 billion Choi Won-tae → The 'Korea-Japan starting pitcher' is coming full-time!
Why Doosan did not even look at '9th in the starting innings' Eom Sang-baek-7 billion Choi Won-tae → The 'Korea-Japan starting pitcher' is coming full-time!
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Doosan Bears had a tough season this year as its starting lineup collapsed. The team ranked ninth in innings pitched by starting pitchers. However, Doosan didn't even notice big-name starting pitchers in the FA market. Doosan believes that it is capable of counterattacking just by changing foreigners and fostering domestic starting pitchers. With Kwak Bin, the top contender in wins, Choi Seung-yong, the starting pitcher of the Premier 12 will make a full-time appearance in 2025.
Doosan's starting pitchers pitched 683 ⅓ innings in the 2024 season. The only team that had fewer innings of pitching than Doosan was the Hanwha Eagles (675 innings). The team ranked eighth with 5.07 ERA and 42 quality starts, respectively. Meanwhile, Doosan finished the regular season in fourth place. This means that the strength of the bullpen was great, but it consumed a lot at the same time. Reinforcing the starting pitchers was essential.
Just in time, Um Sang-baek and Choi Won-tae came out in the FA market. They are the players who are guaranteed to have a full-time starting rotation. It is a resource that is expected to increase power 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 due to overheated ransom competition. Doosan didn't even approach it in the first place.
For now, Doosan has firmly replaced two foreign pitchers. Doosan completely failed to recruit foreigners in 2024. Raul Alcantara injured his elbow and was out after 12 games. He brought in Jordan Balazovic as a substitute, but he was disappointed with his team's two wins and six losses and 4.34 ERA in 11 games. Brandon Waddell, who was doing his bit, was also out in the first half of the season. His successor, Keisho Shirakawa, also had two wins and three losses and an earned run average of 6.03. Doosan recruited Cole Irvin, an active Major League starter, and Thomas Hatch, a former member of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), to form a one-two punch.
First of all, Irvin appeared in 134 games (93rd starting pitcher) during six seasons in the Major League, recording 28 wins, 40 losses and an earned run average of 4.54. In 2024, he pitched in 29 games (16 starting pitcher) and played 111 innings, displaying not bad performance with six wins, six losses and an earned run average of 5.11. Hatch moved to Japan after leaving four wins, four losses and six holds with an earned run average of 4.96 during four seasons in the Major League. Although he played only five games as a member of the Hiroshima Toyokaf team in the NPB's first division, he proved his high possibility with an earned run average of 2.36 in 72 innings in the second division.
Korea's starting pitcher will be led by Kwak Bin. He will seek to secure 10 wins for the third consecutive year. Above all, "healthy" Choi Seung-yong is drawing keen attention. He focused on rehabilitation of his elbow fatigue fracture after the 2023 season. As he was about to return to the team, he had bad luck even undergoing appendectomy. He lost the first half of the season and became a full-fledged player only after August. After appointing 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 starting pitchers ranging from 1-2 foreigners to Kwak Bin and Choi Seung-yong. 먹튀검증
There are also plenty of candidates for the fifth starting pitcher. Choi Won-joon, a 10-win pitcher in 2020 and 2021, is aiming for a rebound. Choi was ranked second in the team after Kwak Bin with 24 starts in 2024. Rookie Choi Jun-ho, who gained experience by receiving the opportunity to start 15 games this year, is also expected to step up. Fireballer Kim Yu-seong is also a promising contender for the starting position.