▲ Choi Chae-heung, a domestic selection ace for Samsung who expects a gap in the early season Ⓒ Samsung Lions
Samsung Lions, who were considered as the top 5 candidates this season and were preparing for the opening smoothly, fell sharply. Ace Choi Chae-heung, who kept the starting rotation throughout the season by digesting the regular innings last year, suffered an internal oblique oblique injury and a gap for about two months.
Choi Chae-heung’s departure is not a mere departure from one starting pitcher, but is inevitably painful. Last year, Choi Chae-heung scored an ERA of 3.58 with 146 innings. Among the pitchers who played the regular innings, all the pitchers with lower average ERA were foreign pitchers. In other words, Samsung should start the season with the gap of the No. 1 player in the league’s domestic starting pitchers.
Samsung Bench announced its intention to test the submarine pitchers Kim Dae-woo and Choi Chae-heung, left-handed pitchers Heo Yun-dong and Lee Seung-min, as candidates for starting pitching. In the worst case, considering the eight-week injuries before the first, and the recovery afterwards, in the worst case, you may have to play the season without Choi Chae-heung until May. As such, it is Samsung that needs to prepare several selection resources.
There is also a happy face who threw a challenge at the starting team with a large gap. Yang Chang-seop, who recovered from last year’s injury and reported returning to the 1st Army, is the protagonist. Choi Chae-heung, who had a gap, and Yang Chang-seop, who was also the motive for joining the group, were, in fact, a pitcher who showed his presence by starting the first team ahead of Choi Chae-heung.
▲ Yang Chang-seop, who won 7 wins in 2018 with a sense of stability that is not like a rookie Ⓒ Samsung Lions
After graduating from Deoksu High School in 2018, Yang Chang-seop, who was appointed as a first-team pitcher, was not a rookie from the first season, as he was evaluated as having the best control ability and game management ability in high school. In his debut season, he started in 17 out of 19 games, digested 87.1 innings, and won 7 wins.
In the same year, there was a monster hitter Kang Baek-ho, so he couldn’t show his business card to the rookie king competition, but if the candidate wasn’t fierce, he left a great performance considering that it was the debut season, so he was selected as a strong candidate for the rookie king.
However, was it a problem that the pitching innings were drastically increased after joining a pro? While preparing for the 2019 season, the elbow pain intensified, and as a result of the diagnosis, ligament damage and bone fragments were found. Yang Chang-seop’s 2019 season, who decided to perform surgery from a long-term perspective, ended before even starting.
After a year of rehabilitation, which would not have been easy to endure at the age of 20, Yang Chang-seop started to play in the second army last May, and finally succeeded in returning to the stage of the first group in October. Thanks to the sincere rehabilitation, the highest fastball restraint was recorded in the mid-140km range, showing a better pitch than before the injury.
▲ Can Chae-heung Choi, Chang-seop Yang, and Chang-seop Yang, who joined Samsung in the first round of the 2018 season’s first nomination and second round, fill the gap in the motivation for joining? Ⓒ Samsung Lions
Yang Chang-seop, who proved he can pitch in good health, must regain his lost starting pitching position. In addition to Buchanan and Lively, Choi Chae-heung and Won Tae-in were solid starting pitchers. If he shows the excellent control and game management skills he showed in the 2018 season, Samsung’s starting gap can be minimized.
Someone’s vacancy can be an opportunity for someone else. Ace Choi Chae-heung’s early-season gap is unfortunate for Samsung and the player himself, but it is a golden opportunity that cannot be missed for Yang Chang-seop, who aims to return to the starter.
[관련 기사] Kim Seong-yoon, another small giant of Samsung aiming for a’leap forward’
[기록 참조: 야구기록실 KBReport.com(케이비리포트), KBO기록실]
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