Chronic injury + sluggishness → Changing the number → Even surgery...Should we overcome the ordeal and get "Smile" back? Choi Jun-yong dreaming of resurrection
Chronic injury + sluggishness → Changing the number → Even surgery...Should we overcome the ordeal and get "Smile" back? Choi Jun-yong dreaming of resurrection
Blog Article
He suffered repeated slumps and injury. Will Choi Joon-yong of the Lotte Giants regain the best fastball in the league.
We need to show better performances next year. As Lotte Giants' Choi Joon-yong hoped, Koo Seung-min and Kim Won-joong remained in the team, and even Jeong Cheol-won joined the team. We need to be reborn as one of the pillars of the powerful bullpen.
In the beginning of the 2023 season, he was full of enthusiasm. Sun Dong-yeol's jersey numbers, however, such as Park Se-woong, Lee In-bok, and Yoon Sung-bin, suffered from injuries, and threw a head-on challenge to Lotte's "No. 18" jinx, which had been a nightmare. He proved that he is a pitcher who strives as much as his talent by wearing change-ups and sweeper besides his fierce fastball.
However, the "curse" also came to Choi without fail. He suffered from long-term injuries for two consecutive years, and faced the reality of being out for the season this year.
He even revealed his self-confidence in the face of repeated injuries. In 2023, when he lost the first half due to injury, he knocked on the batter's box despite impressive performance in the second half, embarrassing Lotte. In 2024, he changed his uniform number back to his 56th during the season. He is making efforts to regain his self-confidence when he was doing well.
"Healthy" Choi Jun-yong remains powerful. He also had good performance last year with two wins, three losses and 14 holds and an ERA of 2.45. The club's expectations are full of Choi Jun-yong's salary in 2024, which is 163 million won.
He also showed off his powerful pitching in March and April this year. However, he has been mired in a slump since May. As he has been away from the team due to injuries every year, Lotte Giants and Cha have decided to deal with chronic injuries that had continued throughout their professional careers.
After all, Choi underwent surgery on his right shoulder joint in August. He also struggled to prepare for the next season before it was too late. Rehabilitation period is about four months. He is expected to have no problem joining the spring camp next year.
Choi Jun-yong's gap was huge. Lotte failed again in its fall baseball challenge due to poor bullpen. Closer Kim Won-joong struggled, but it was not enough to withstand the thinning mound.
Considering such disappointment, Lotte kept busy during the offseason. It successfully caught Kim Won-joong, the closing pitcher who became an FA, and Koo Seung-min, the winning pitcher, and added Jeong Cheol-won to the bullpen by engaging in a 3-2 trade with Kim Min-seok, a promising player.
He also expressed his willingness to take a step further. He renewed his contract with Reyes, who had 202 hits, and left-hander ace Barnes, while recruiting Davidson instead of Wilkerson, who pitched 196 ⅔ innings, and dreamed of a different day from yesterday. 스포츠토토
This is the second year of Lotte's manager Kim Tae-hyung. The team should display a turnaround by adding strength to its batters and starting lineup, which have grown beyond recognition over the past year, including Choi Jun-yong and Yoo Kang-nam. Will Choi be able to draw smiles from Kim Tae-hyung.