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[스포티비뉴스=고척, 김민경 기자] Choi Seung-yong (Doosan Bears), a promising national team left-handed starting pitcher, left a strong impression in his first actual game.
Choi Seung-yong started the second evaluation game against Cuba in the ‘2024 K-Baseball Series‘ held at Gocheok Sky Dome on the 2nd and pitched well in 2 innings, allowing 33 pitches, 3 hits, no 4 walks, 1 strikeout, and no runs. He threw a mixture of fastballs (21), sliders (7), curves (4), and forkballs (1), and the maximum speed of the fastball was 146 km.
Coach Ryu Joong-il of the Korean national baseball team paid attention to Choi Seung-yong’s pitching. LG Twins Son Joo-young, who was expected to be the new left-handed ace ahead of the national team call-up, left due to an elbow injury, and Choi Seung-yong was the only player to replace him. Manager Ryu predicted that Choi Seung-yong’s condition would gradually decrease as he pitched two innings that day.
In an interview with a broadcaster after Choi Seung-yong finished pitching, Manager Ryu gave his overall opinion, saying, “I didn’t control the pitch well in the first inning, but I think I handled it well. I think I did a good job of cutting it off with Park Seong-han’s super catch in the second inning.”
Choi Seung-yong is a left-handed starting pitcher that Doosan worked hard to develop. Since graduating from Sorae High School and joining Doosan in the second round of the 2021 rookie draft, expectations have been high as the next left-handed ace to succeed Hee-gwan Yoo and Won-jun Jang. He boasted of being used both as a starter and as a bullpen, and recorded a total of 109 games, 8 wins, 1 save, 8 holds, 249 ⅔ innings, and an ERA of 4.69 in 4 seasons in the KBO League.
In 2022, when Choi Seung-yong first participated in spring camp, he drew attention by making a mark on former national baseball team coach Sun Dong-yeol, a ‘national treasure’ who was with him as an instructor. After watching Choi Seung-yong’s bullpen pitching, former manager Seon gave a thumbs up and praised him, saying, “I really don’t have anything to say to you.”
Choi Seung-yong’s growth attracted even more attention because the time to prepare the player in earnest was short. Choi Seung-yong fell in love with the Japanese baseball animation ‘Major’ and started playing baseball as a hobby in the 5th grade of elementary school. It is said that he liked it more because the main character, Goro Shigeno, was a left-handed pitcher. Choi Seung-yong started his career as a baseball player in earnest only when he was in his third year of middle school, but his potential was so great that he was drafted as a professional in just four years. The common opinion was that “the pitching form is clean and pretty.”
Above all, he has a strong heart for big games. Choi Seung-yong appeared in a total of 9 postseason games, pitching 9⅓ innings and recording an ERA of 0.96. This year, due to injuries, he had a slow start to the point where he was only able to improve his game sense in the Futures League in the middle of the season, but he quickly got back on track by joining the first team in the second half of the season and even entering the postseason. On the 3rd of last month, he started in the second game of the wild card match against KT Wiz held in Jamsil and pitched well with 3 hits, 4 walks, 2 strikeouts, and no runs in 4⅔ innings, showing once again the aspect of a ‘big game pitcher’.
Cuba’s team is Yoelkis Guibert (center fielder) – Yoan Moncada (third baseman) – Balvaro Arruevarena (shortstop) – Alfredo Despaigne (designated hitter) – Rafael Vinales (right fielder) – Lazaro Armenteros (left fielder) ) – Roberto Baldoquin (first baseman) – Andris Perez (catcher) – Yadiel Mujica (second baseman) formed a starting lineup to face Choi Seung-yong. Moncada, who boasts a total of 93 home runs in the major leagues, is the person of most interest, and Aruevaruena and Despaine are also key Cuban players who performed well in the United States and Japan.
Choi Seung-yong warmed up while facing 5 batters in the bottom of the first inning. He was hit by a right-field hit from leadoff hitter Guibert, but he caught his breath by setting up the next hitter, Moncada, with a fly ball to left field. Then, Aruevaruena hit a left-field hit, putting the team in danger with runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out, but when Despaine got on base with a ground ball to 3rd base, he caught 1st base runner Aruevaruena first at 2nd base, putting the score on 1st and 3rd with 2 outs. The situation changed with Lu. Choi Seung-yong finished the game well with a scoreless score, with Viñales handling a fly ball to center field.
Then, in the top of the second inning, the Korean batting line stepped up to help score. Leadoff hitter Yoon Dong-hee hit a left-field home run to give the team a 1-0 lead. With the ball count at 2-0, when a 147 km/h fastball came in high, he hit it without missing and went over the left wall. Korea then took the opportunity to load the bases with Park Dong-won’s double, Shin Min-jae’s walk, and Hong Chang-ki’s bases loaded, but failed to score an additional point due to a missed follow-up hit.
Choi Seung-yong also took the mound in the bottom of the second inning and pitched without allowing a run. Shortstop Park Seong-han’s defensive help was great. Choi Seung-yong did well to set up leadoff hitter Armenteros with a looking strikeout, but the next hitter, Baldoquin’s hit, became a right-handed hit that went over the second baseman’s head, leaving the team with one out and one on first base. Perez then hit a strong ball with a 3-out, and shortstop Park Seong-han stretched out his glove and hit a straight hit, changing the situation to 2 outs and runners on first base. If the batted ball had been missed, it would have led to a big crisis, so Choi Seung-yong expressed his gratitude by clapping his gloves towards Park Seong-han. Choi Seung-yong, who even handled Mujica with a ground ball to first base, completed his mission and retired.
