It is a cold autumn for a veteran. Koh Hyo-joon (41), left-hander of the SSG Landers who pitched in 73 games last season, suffered the bitter taste of his fourth career release due to poor performance this season.
SSG announced the list of 10 released players on the 5th, including five pitchers and five fielders. Pitchers included Ko Hyo-joon, Park Min-ho, Seo Sang-joon, Lee Chan-hyuk and Huh Min-hyuk. The fielders were catchers Kim Ji-hyun and Jeon Kyung-won, and infielders Kang Jin-sung, Choi Kyung-mo and Choi Yoo-bin.
The most eye-catching player is Ko. Ko, who joined the Lotte Giants as the sixth overall pick in the second round of the 2002 KBO League Rookie Draft, is a veteran pitcher who has made his debut in 23 years this year. He has 47 wins, 54 losses, four saves and an earned run average (ERA) of 5.27 in 601 games throughout his career with the Lotte Giants, the SK Wyverns (current SSG), the KIA Tigers and the LG Twins.
Ko has made significant strides between starting pitchers and bullpen sessions, including 11 wins in 2009 and double-digit holds in 2019 (15 holds) and 2023 (13 holds). However, the process was not smooth. As he moved five times before joining SSG, he was notified of his release three times, facing a career interruption. He overcame the crisis well every time, but now he is at a crossroads again as he was notified of his release for the fourth time.
Ko’s first ordeal in his 23rd year since debut came right after his debut season in 2002. Playing in six games while wearing the Lotte Giants’ uniform, Ko had to leave the team after finishing his debut season due to poor control of his ball. Ko joined SK in 2003 and started trying again, but rarely made it to the first team until 2008.
Having become a starting pitcher since 2009, Ko has pitched more than 100 innings for three consecutive seasons, serving as an all-weather resource. However, after serving as a social service worker in 2012 and 2013, he suffered ups and downs from 2014 to the first half of 2016, failing to display good times. Eventually, he changed his team to a one-on-one trade with Lim Joon-hyuk of the KIA Tigers in July 2016, and took on a new challenge.
For Kia Tigers, Ko played 59 games for a year and a half and displayed impressive performance. Since his dismissal with 4.71 ERA in 2016 and 4.27 ERA in 2017, he has succeeded in changing the trend, which had been on a downward spiral. In the meantime, he even enjoyed the joy of winning the Korean Series for the first time in his career in 2017.
Ko moved back to the second draft ahead of 2018. His destination was Lotte, his former team. Playing in 43 games in 2018 and 75 games in 2019, Ko became the first free agent in his career right after the season. Since then, he has faced challenges one after another.
In the winter of 2019, Ko Hyo-joon became an FA Mia after negotiations with his original team Lotte collapsed. He continued his active career by signing a contract with Lotte for 120 million won per year in the crisis of retirement, but he left a disappointing performance with one win and an ERA of 5.74 in 24 games. In the second half of the year, he was not bad with 17 games, one win and an ERA of 3.09, but Lotte, in the midst of a generational change, classified Ko Hyo-joon, who entered his late 30s, as an out-of-field player. Eventually, he was notified of his release for a second time after completing 2020.
Ahead of 2021, Ko joined the team as a nurturing player for the LG Twins and expressed his strong commitment to extending his active career. However, he failed to break through the walls of LG’s first team with many left-handed bullpens and only played in three games, receiving his third notice of release since the season.
After three consecutive cold winter seasons, Ko returned to her SSG home after seven years after going through a trial to join the team ahead of the 2022 season. Ko, who is already in a bind, drew attention by performing better than expected through seasoned pitching for two seasons.
Ko has established himself as the core of SSG’s bullpen, marking a 3.72 ERA with one win and seven holds in 45 games in 2022 and a 4.50 ERA with four wins and one loss with 13 holds in 73 games in 2023. Along the way, he proved his value as a veteran by contributing to SSG’s 2022 wire-to-wire win in 2022.
Ko, who had been doing well, could not break the trend of time this season. He ended up with two wins, one loss and five holds and an earned run average of 8.18 in 26 games, the worst period since 2014 (ERA of 9.18). SSG, which lacked a bullpen session for left-handed players other than Han Doo-sol, steadily gave Ko a chance, but failed to rebound. In the end, SSG ended its three-year companionship by notifying Ko of his release.
Ko Hyo-joon, who will receive his fourth career release notice, will turn 42 next year. In KBO league history, only six active players have played in seasons over 42 years of age. They are Song Jin-woo, Choi Hyang-nam, Ryu Taek-hyun, Choi Young-pil, Lim Chang-yong, and Oh Seung-hwan this season. 메이저놀이터
If Ko is active next year, he could become the seventh veteran pitcher in his career. However, as he said goodbye to SSG, he cannot guarantee his challenge at the moment. Attention is focusing on what conclusion Ko, who is valuable as a left-handed bullpen, will make between extending his active role and retiring.
