The Doosan Bears have reshuffled their coaching staff and roster.
On July 7, Doosan announced that it has decided not to re-sign operations coach Jung Soo-sung.
Chung came to Doosan as an operations coach alongside Lee Seung-yeop, who took over as manager this year.
While Lee emphasized stealing one more base, Chung spearheaded a revival of “running baseball,” with programs for players to actively run the bases from spring training.
Doosan’s stolen base numbers have improved across the board. With 133 stolen bases this season, they are second in team stolen bases behind the LG Twins (166). They also have a 73.5% success rate, well ahead of LG (62.2%).
Jeong Soo-bin won his first individual stolen base title with 39 stolen bases.
After finishing the regular season in fifth place and qualifying for fall baseball, Doosan ended the season with a loss to the NC Dinos in the wild-card game.
Despite achieving his goals in his first year as manager, Lee said, “I’m not comfortable with the fifth place finish. I feel responsible. I’m disappointed. I had a lot of thoughts about whether the fifth place finish was good or disappointing. In a way, I think I did well, and in a way, I think I was disappointed. I have a lot of thoughts,” he said, reflecting on the season.
After the season, a ‘forced reshuffle’ in the coaching staff began. After the season, coaches Ko Young-min, Kim Joo-chan, and Yoo Jae-shin left for the Lotte Giants, where Kim Tae-hyung took the helm. Jung Jae-hoon moved to the KIA Tigers, and Kim Woo-seok moved to the Hanwha Eagles.
The team has yet to announce any new coaches. The new pitching coach is Cho Woong-chun.
Doosan, which was in the process of revamping its coaching staff, decided not to sign Chung. Chung reportedly received offers from multiple clubs for Young. “We recently held a meeting with Coach Jung and made this decision by mutual consent,” Doosan said in a statement.
Lee said, “It’s natural to leave a professional career. Some people will join the coaching staff, and there will be some changes in positions. There will be some changes,” he said, adding, “I’m going to think about it a little more carefully. We don’t play a season to finish fifth. I’m trying to organize the coaching staff so that we can be satisfied with good performances, high performances, etc. You have to be a resource for the team, you have to be helpful. They have to be a good fit with the players. We’re trying to finalize the coaching staff carefully and not too late.”
The team also reorganized its roster. Ten players, including pitchers Jung Jeong-seok, Lee Jung-won, Jang Bin, Lee Ki-seok, Cho Jose-myeong, Go Bong-jae, catcher Shin Chang-hee, Kang San, and outfielder Jeon Hee-beom and Kim Siwan, were informed that they would not be re-signed.
Go Bong-jae was drafted by Doosan in the third round (25th overall) of the 2016 rookie draft. After 27 games in the first team, he was released in 2021, but returned to Doosan a year later. This season, he pitched 11 innings in 10 games with a 6.35 ERA.
Pitchers Jang Won-jun and Kim Ji-yong and infielder Shin Sung-hyun have announced their retirement. Kim Ji-yong served as a playing coach in the middle of the season and will start a new career as a coach in the 2024 season. 토토사이트
Jang Won-jun and Shin Sung-hyun were on the verge of release last year, but were given a chance this season with Lee’s arrival. Shin had a resurgent season in the Futures League, batting 8-for-3 in 12 games this season, but an eye injury forced him to retire. The club offered Shin a frontline assignment, which he accepted.
Jang went 3-5 with a 5.27 ERA in 11 games this season. He finished last year with 129 wins, but with three more wins and 41 innings pitched this year, he reached 132 wins and 2,000 innings pitched in his career. Lee said, “This is my first retirement. “I was hoping to go out on fire at the end, but I don’t know how satisfied I would have been. For the staff, three wins is not a small number. We haven’t had a win in a couple years, so to come in from the second team and get a chance, and to come in and get three wins in a starter’s absence, it was a big boost. I told him good job. I thanked him for his dedication and his silent role.”
After being released by LG Twins at the end of the 2021 season, Kim Ji-yong joined Doosan last year and went 1-0 with a 6.05 ERA in 18 games. With no first-team appearances this season, the Doosan front office recognized his sincerity and offered him a position as a pitching coach. “I was really bad at baseball as an amateur. My wish was to wear a professional uniform once. Now that I’ve worn the uniform for more than 10 years, I’ve fulfilled my wish.” “I feel like I’ve done everything I can do in a professional team. I’ve played in the first team, played in the All-Star Game, and even had surgery for rehabilitation.” He continued, “I’m sorry that I didn’t do a good job for Doosan as a player. I’m sorry that I didn’t do a good job for Doosan as a player.” He also expressed his determination to start anew, saying, “I’ll help the juniors get better so that they can achieve good results.
