'Crisis for the team, opportunity for players' → Won-jun Choi who caught 'third starter'... Will he prove his changed appearance, pitching, and regular season

'Crisis for the team, opportunity for players' → Won-jun Choi who caught 'third starter'... Will he prove his changed appearance, pitching, and regular season

Blog Article

Choi Won-joon (31) of the Doosan Bears had a chance that he thought he had missed. It is up to him to save the team.먹튀검증

Choi Won-joon will start in Game 1 of the three consecutive games against KT Wiz in the 2025 KBO League regular season at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on the 25th.

It was unexpected at the end of the exhibition game. Back then, he entered the race to become the fifth starter, but lost to his junior Kim Yoo-sung. "We have made the final decision to select Yoo Seong-yi as the fifth starter. New faces are emerging in the team, including Oh Myung-jin and Kim Min-seok. Our team needs to change a lot from last year," Lee said. "We have decided to have strong Yoo Seong-yi as the first starter. We asked Won Joon to understand."
Choi's performance did not diminish because he was excluded from the competition. Choi pitched in two exhibition games this year, displaying one win and one earned run average (ERA) of 1.29 during seven innings. He allowed only one walk and struck out four.

There were only two matches, but there was a reason. Choi, who was a sidearm pitcher until last year, boldly raised his arm angle to the third quarter during the offseason. He aimed to find his lost pitching capability.

Choi Won-joon was a sidearm pitcher with 10 wins and 2 losses and a 3.80 ERA in 2020, 12 wins and 4 losses in 2021, and 8 wins and 13 losses and a 3.60 ERA in 2022. However, his pitches gradually declined, and he was sluggish with a 4.93 ERA in 2023 and a 6.46 ERA in 2024. He tried changeups and folk balls with three pitches, but failed to show much effect due to the small angle.

It was effective. After adjusting his arm angle at Tread Athletics in the U.S., Choi raised his fastball speed to up to 147 kilometers per hour, up from 140 kilometers per hour on average. As his arm angle went up, his fork ball fell. He gave a chance to his future teammate, but he proved his competitiveness.
He even had an opportunity. Right before the season opened, Doosan's ace pitcher Kwak Bin, who won the most games last year, was diagnosed with partial damage to his left oblique muscle, and left the team. As Doosan undergoes a re-diagnosis in early April, the team has left the starting rotation at least two to three times. Without hesitation, Doosan decided to replace Choi Won-joon. Choi and Kwak are close enough to talk about pitching for more than an hour, and they are close enough to each other. Kwak Bin, who is his junior and ace player, has a big gap, but this position has become another opportunity for Choi.

As he is a "temporary" player, his first appearance in the game is important. Choi's opponent is Ko Young-pyo, an under-rower. He is the representative "submarine ace" in the league, which won double-digit wins from 2021 to 2023, but suffered from 6-8 losses and 4.95 ERA last year. Choi should overcome him.