Unfortunately, there was no ‘first team magic’.
Choi Ha-neul, a tall sidearm wearing a Samsung uniform, traded with ‘genius shortstop’ Lee Hak-joo (Lotte). In his debut match of the season, he suffered a harsh ceremony.
Choi Ha-neul started the 4th game of the season against NC at Changwon NC Park on the 20th, threw 49 pitches in 1⅓ innings, and gave up 7 runs with 7 hits and 1 walk, including a two-run homer to tie the game with Park Kun-woo, and failed to prevent a 3-14 loss. He was not content enough to allow on base in as many as 8 of 12 batters.
In his first appearance of the season, he was assisted with the first run in the top of the first inning. In the top of the first inning, Koo Ja-wook hit a two-run home run against the extremely strong NC starter Eric Peddy, giving the team a 2-0 lead.
But he couldn’t keep the lead.
At the end of the 1st inning, he caught a strike with a 135km fastball from leader Son A-seop, but threw a changeup for the 2nd pitch and allowed a double and started uneasy. He threw Park Min-woo into the outfield, but threw a body changeup to Park Gun-woo and allowed a two-run four to tie the score.
A walk at the end of the full count match with Martin, and Kwon Hee-dong allowed a big hit, but the left fielder caught it and went 2 out and 1 base. Park Se-hyuk allowed a 2-3 comeback with a timely double that hit the middle left fence directly. The inning ended with a ground ball to Kim Joo-won.
The nightmare continued in episode 2.
A heavy hit to leader Do Tae-hoon and a left-field double to Seo Ho-cheol secured 2nd and 3rd bases. He threw a changeup to Son Ah-seop and allowed 2 RBIs and 2 bases in the middle left. Park Min-woo was treated as a fly ball in the outfield, but the fastball thrown to Park Gun-woo, who hit a home run in the first inning, led to a timely hit to the left.
Eventually, pitching coach Jung Hyun-wook came up. Replaced by Heo Yun-dong. It was the first appearance of the season full of regrets.
Choi Ha-neul showed off his extreme performance by recording an average ERA of 1.02 with 2 earned runs in 17⅔ innings in 4 Futures League games this season.
However, the first group stage was different. In his first game, he left a disappointing record of an earned run average of 47.25.
Coach Park Jin-man denied the possibility of an early call-up on the 10th, saying, “Choi Ha-neul has good game management skills and is producing good results, but the restraint has not yet been fully raised after rehabilitation.” He explained the reason, “The fast ball has to come out around the second half of 130km, but it’s still staying in the mid-130km range. Only when the velocity comes up can the changeup, the main weapon, work 먹튀검증.”
However, when there were no alternatives, such as Heo Yoon-dong, who had been the substitute starter just before, and showed poor pitching, the coaching staff of the 2nd team strongly recommended Choi Ha-neul.
The advice was, “If you come up to the first group, your speed will increase by 2-3 km.” He said, “If you are a pitcher with control power and your velocity exceeds the middle of 130km, you will be able to use the circle changeup, which is an advantage,” he revealed the reason for the selection.
But he had no miracles.
As even Choi Ha-neul collapsed early, Samsung’s unresolved concerns about the 5th starting pitcher are expected to continue.