Lotte recruited a large number of veteran pitchers released from other offseason teams. Shin Jung-rak (35, released from Hanwha), Kim Sang-soo (34, released from SSG), and Myung-jun Yoon (33, released from Doosan) joined the pitching staff and added experience. They are all bullpen pitchers who performed well in the past. In addition, he recorded 112 wins (79 losses) in 457 matches in his career and brought in Cha Woo-chan (35), an ace former left-hander with national team experience, and made a splash in recruiting a veteran pitcher.
In fact, Cha Woo-chan’s last regular season game was last July 5, 2021. After that, he dramatically boarded the Tokyo Olympic team and climbed the mound. However, it has since disappeared. The pain got worse in a situation where I couldn’t digest properly in 2021 due to a shoulder injury. Eventually, he had to spend time in rehab after undergoing shoulder surgery in September 2021. He had an actual start in the Futures League only in September of this year, and only threw 2⅔ innings in 2 games.
In fact, Lotte does not expect much from Cha Woo-chan. It would be helpful if I could recover completely from my shoulder injury right now and get on the mound, but I also know that’s not the case. Nevertheless, the reason why multiple clubs competed to recruit him after he was released from LG is because Cha Woo-chan’s experience is attractive. Lotte immediately contacted Cha Woo-chan after he was released and brought him in after a long period of hard work.
An official from the club said, “The feeling of throwing is better than before. He says he felt fine on his last appearance of the year. To be honest, I didn’t hire him because he said he would use it right away, right away. I don’t think I’ll throw it from the beginning of next season. Even if he throws just a few games, it’s a bonus,” he said. “However, Cha Woo-chan is a player with extraordinary leadership. He was recruited because he thought he would have a positive impact on the team, especially young pitchers,” he explained.
Cha Woo-chan has accumulated various experiences while going back and forth between starting and bullpen. He went through ups and downs in the early days of his debut, but eventually became the national team and made the FA jackpot.안전놀이터 He can be seen as one of the few pitchers who left a mark in the KBO League. If this experience is melted, it can give wings to the growth of young pitching staff.
In particular, the pitcher who should benefit the most and absorb Cha Woo-chan’s know-how is left-hander Kim Jin-wook (20), who is now entering his third year as a top-class prospect. Cha Woo-chan and Kim Jin-wook were together in the Tokyo Olympic team held last year. At that time, it was only for a short time, but now we have been together for one season.
Kim Jin-wook, who was nominated as the 1st overall pick in the 2nd round of the 2021 rookie draft. He did not show great results until his second year season. It is not a situation to look at him impatiently, but it is true that it is still disappointing compared to expectations.
He wandered between starting and bullpen in his debut season in 2021, then settled into the bullpen and finished with a 6.31 earned run average with 4 wins, 6 losses and 8 holds in 39 games. He prepared for the season as a starter this year and made his first start of the season that lived up to expectations. On April 5, against Changwon NC, he won his first start with the best pitching since his debut: 7 innings, 2 hits (1 home run), 2 walks, 10 strikeouts and 1 run. However, after that, he slowed down due to the confirmation of Corona 19 and could not regain his pace. In 14 games, he showed a stagnant figure with 2 wins, 5 losses and an earned run average of 6.36.
Looking back on his season, Kim Jin-wook blamed himself for not maintaining a good pace. He said, “I prepared well this year and my confidence increased. But I tried to do it too well, and I have regrets about what it would have been like if I had handled it well from moment to moment.” .
In the end, the player who can fill this lack of experience can be Cha Woo-chan. It would be nice if Cha Woo-chan stepped on the mound and took charge of a few games, but even if he didn’t, if he could transform a top prospect named Kim Jin-wook, the annual salary of 50 million won set for Cha Woo-chan would not be a waste.