‘Highest 147km + 35 pitches’ The 22-year-old smiling angel is back! ‘First win + 1 scoreless inning’
It was dangerous, but I finished the first game safely. Will it be able to wash away the concerns about the demonstration game?
Lotte Giants Choi Joon-yong (22), who has made Busan fans anxious, is back. Choi Jun-yong pitched 4 times in the Futures game against the Samsung Lions held at Sangdong Baseball Stadium in Gimhae on the 18th, pitched 2 hits and no runs in 1 inning, and became the winning pitcher.
Even before the season, it was an axis of the ‘rosy outlook’. He, along with Koo Seung-min and Kim Won-joong, was Lotte’s “dark age” bullpen ace who failed fall baseball for 5 consecutive years. He went through a lot of hardships between the winning group and the finishing line, and this year, he was expected to protect the back door with a powerful fastball that went over 150km.안전놀이터
He was sluggish in the exhibition game. He appeared in a total of 5 games and underwent an intensive test, but showed a sluggish ERA of 13.50 with 7 runs (6 earned) on 9 hits in 4 innings. Since the season began, he has not made the first team or pitched in a Futures game.
In the meantime, Choi Jun-yong steadily took a break from the 2nd team and refined his pitching balance. Lotte has emphasized several times, “Choi Jun-yong is preparing for his return to the 1st team by throwing hard in the 2nd team.”
The game against Samsung on this day was Choi Jun-yong’s first appearance since the start of the regular season. Choi Jun-yong, who took the mound after starter Choi Young-hwan (three scoreless innings), allowed first batter Kim Young-woong to hit a double and second batter Yang Woo-hyeon to hit another double. However, second base runner Kim Young-woong only advanced to third base, avoiding a run.
Choi Jun-yong got over the second and third base crisis safely by striking out pitcher Jeong-bin Yoon and striking out Hyun-seok Oh and Jeong-hoon Yoon one after another and was replaced. As Lotte won, he was also honored as the winning pitcher. The highest speed of the fastball came out to 147 km, and in addition, he threw a curveball, slider, and changeup. The number of pitches was 35.
Choi Jun-yong plans to start one more game during the week to adjust his condition.\
Choi Lee-jun (name changed from Choi Geon), who had not appeared for the Futures along with Choi Jun-yong, also took the mound in the game that day, following Choi Jun-yong. Choi Lee-jun, who took the mound in the 5th inning, allowed consecutive hits to Jeong Jin-soo and Kim Jae-sang after one out, facing a crisis with 1 out and 1st and 2nd bases, but struck out Kim Sang-min and caught Kim Young-woong with a ground ball to 2nd base and finished the 1st inning without a run.
On this day, Lotte won 7-2 against Samsung thanks to the performances of Yun Dong-hee (4 hits in 5 at-bats, 3 RBIs), Lee Ho-yeon (3 hits in 4 at-bats, 2 RBIs), and Kim Min-soo (2 hits in 4 at-bats, 1 RBI).
