Doosan Bears’ young guns are active, and internal competition for the Asian Games breaks out. Following Gwak Bin and Jeong Cheol-won, who have already been on the WBC team, Choi Seung-yong, Kim Dong-ju, and Lee Byung-hun are expected to join the national team.
Doosan won two consecutive victories against the KIA Tigers in Jamsil on May 12 and 13. With the winning series confirmed, the decisive contribution to the two consecutive victories was made by the young starting pitchers.
In the game on the 12th, starting pitcher Kim Dong-joo led the team to a 6-1 victory with 5 hits, 5 strikeouts and a perfect pitch in 7 innings. In particular, the record of 7 innings without a hit was a number that proved Kim Dong-joo’s potential as a starting pitcher without filtering.
Doosan left-hander Choi Seung-yong brilliantly filled Gwak Bin’s vacancy. Photo (Jamsil) = Reporter Kim Geun-han
Doosan coach Lee Seung-yeop said, “Kim Dong-ju showed a very relaxed pitch. He has fully demonstrated his potential to establish himself as a starting pitcher in the first team. He swings wildly. He’s relaxed enough to feel like he knows when it’s necessary and when it’s time to catch up,” he said with a thumbs up.
Not to be defeated by Kim Dong-ju In the game on the 13th, Choi Seung-yong, the starting pitcher, fought back. On this day, Choi Seung-yong contributed to the team’s 5-1 victory with a quality start with 5 hits, 5 strikeouts, 1 walk and 1 run in 6 innings.
Choi Seung-yong, who started the first inning with a tripartite offense, passed the second and third innings without a major crisis despite allowing sporadic hits. Choi Seung-yong then led Byun Woo-hyeok to a grounder on third base in the 4th inning when the bases were loaded with two outs, preventing a run. It was a scene where third baseman Heo Kyung-min’s clean defense and throw stood out despite the ambiguous ground ball hit.
Even in the beginning of the 6th inning, Choi Seung-yong, who was on the mound, scored the first run of the day after hitting a double with an RBI from Choi Hyung-woo in a safe first base situation. However, Choi Seung-yong, who blocked subsequent hitters well, met the requirements for a second win in the season with a quality start.
Afterwards, Doosan activated the bullpen without a major crisis and confirmed a 5-1 victory. Park Chi-guk’s 2 innings scoreless and Kim Kang-ryul’s 1 scoreless inning minimized bullpen consumption.
Coach Lee Seung-yeop said after the game, “Starter Choi Seung-yong wisely overcame the crisis and created a platform for the team to win. Park Chi-guk threw his own ball and took charge of the second inning. Kim Kang-ryul also finished the game neatly even though it was his first appearance of the season.”
Doosan pitcher Choi Seung-yong starts and throws the ball against Jamsil KIA on May 13. Photo (Jamsil) = Reporter Chun Jeong-hwan
Choi Seung-yong, who was selected as the Distinguished Player of the day, met with reporters and said, “I am happy that the team was able to win. In the beginning, I didn’t play well, but (Yang) Eui-ji hyung and Beast hyungs helped me a lot, so I was able to win. I really want to go to fall baseball. There is no pressure at all to go back and forth between the starters and the bullpen. He thinks he can help the team as much as he can. I will do my best in the position the team wants, whether it is the starter or the bullpen.”
As the condition of young pitchers has improved considerably recently, the competition for boarding the Doosan national team for the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games is expected to intensify. This is because only a maximum of three players per club can enter the final entry for the Asian Games, which will be confirmed in June.
While Gwak Bin and Jeong Cheol-won, who have already played for the WBC team, were considered strong candidates, Kim Dong-ju and Choi Seung-yong, who are well established in the starting lineup, also emerged as dark horses. Choi Seung-yong, who filled the vacant position of Gwak-bin, who fell due to back pain, said, “(Kwak)-bin said that there would be no place for me in the first team even if Hyung returned. He just told me to get well soon,” he smiled.
In addition, the pitching that Lee Byung-hun shows in the bullpen recently is unusual. Lee Byung-hun, who received great praise from coach Lee Seung-yeop for the ball that led to Socrates swinging and striking out in the game on the 12th, also said, “Other hyungs throw better than me, and I am a lefty one-pointer, so I don’t think it will be easy. Still, it’s true that I want to take a look (to get on the national team),” he nodded.안전놀이터
Also, there is a dark horse, Ahn Jae-seok, not only on the pitching team but also on the fielding team. If Ahn Jae-seok, who was out due to a back injury, returns in May and shows positive performance in a short period of time in the first team, he can fully demonstrate his competitiveness to be on the national team as an infielder. If this assumption becomes a reality, Doosan’s internal competition to board the Asian Games team could become like going through the eye of a needle.