Choi Jun-yong, Koo Seung-min, and Kim Won-joong, the "2020s Giant Corps must-win trio," will all revive next year and lead the team to fall baseball
Choi Jun-yong, Koo Seung-min, and Kim Won-joong, the "2020s Giant Corps must-win trio," will all revive next year and lead the team to fall baseball
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Will Kim Won-joong, Koo Seung-min, and Choi Jun-yong, who were responsible for the Lotte Giants' backdoor in the 2020s, be able to revive all 2025 seasons?메이저사이트
Choi Jun-yong, Koo Seung-min, and Kim Won-joong were in charge of Lotte's must-win group after the 2020 season. Choi, who joined the team as the first draft pick in the 2020 rookie draft, ranked second in the KBO Rookie of the Year voting after the KIA Tigers' Lee Eui-ri with four wins, two losses and one save, 20 holds, and an ERA of 2.85, 44 games in the 2021 season. He also displayed outstanding pitching in the 2023 season with 47 games, 2 wins, 3 losses and 14 holds, with an ERA of 2.45.
Koo Seung-min and Kim Won-joong were leaders of Lotte's pitching staff. Koo is Lotte's best bullpen pitcher who achieved 20 holds for four consecutive years from the 2020 to 2023 seasons. With 121 holds overall for Lotte, he holds the club's best hold ever.
Kim Won-joong changed his position from starting pitcher to finishing pitcher starting in the 2020 season. It was a huge success. He posted a career-high 35 saves in the 2021 season, ranking second in saves after Oh Seung-hwan (44) of the Samsung Lions. In the 2023 season, he achieved his second 30 saves season by playing 63 games with five wins, six losses and 30 saves with an earned run average of 2.97. With 132 saves, the club's best save ever (132 saves), Kim has become a pitcher suitable for the title "Lotte's guardian deity."
Choi Joon-yong, Koo Seung-min and Kim Won-joong, who played key roles in the Lotte bullpen, were sluggish side by side in the 2024 season. Choi observed the season with one loss and three holds and an ERA of 2.87 in 15 games through April, but was shaken by the record of one win and one loss and an ERA of 12.00 in 12 games since May. Since then, Choi underwent surgery for shoulder pain in June and ended the season early.
The same was true of Koo. In the first half, he suffered the worst slump in 30 games with three wins, two losses and four holds and an earned run average of 6.67, causing concern to Lotte. In the second half, he improved to two wins and one loss with nine holds and an earned run average of 3.23, but not the same as before. Koo ended the season with five wins and three losses and an earned run average of 4.84 in 66 games.
In the first half of the season, Kim performed his role brilliantly with 30 games, three losses and 16 saves, and an earned run average of 2.41, but collapsed with 26 games, with three wins, three losses and nine saves and an earned run average of 4.85. In the 2024 season, Kim posted three wins, six losses and 25 saves with an earned run average of 3.55 in 56 games. Although his record on the surface was not bad, his number of saves (six times) was the highest since the 2020 season (eight times). His save success rate was 78.1 percent, the lowest in the last four seasons.
After the end of the 2024 season, Koo and Kim Won-joong applied for free agency. Choi Joon-yong, Koo Seung-min, and Kim Won-joong could be disbanded, but Koo and Kim Won-joong remained at Lotte. Kim signed a four-year, maximum contract of 5.4 billion won with Lotte. Koo signed a contract with Lotte for up to 2.1 billion won for two plus two years. In the 2025 season, Choi Joon-yong, Koo Seung-min and Kim Won-joong will also be able to play for Lotte.
Lotte, which has focused on internal crackdown rather than recruiting external FA, needs to strengthen its bullpen, but chances are high it will withdraw from the FA market as it is. If Lotte ends the stove league as it is, Choi Jun-yong, Koo Seung-min and Kim Won-joong must regain their previous form to stabilize the bullpen. If the three players rebound during the 2025 season, Lotte's entry into fall baseball may not be a dream.