It was a year of great reversal in baseball’s life. Ko Woo-suk (26, San Diego Padres), who was originally the closing pitcher for the team, has now left for Major League Baseball. And Yoo Young-chan (27), who is in his second year since debuting as a pro, will be in charge of the back door for the LG Twins in the 2024 season.
Yoo Young-chan, who graduated from Deokseong Elementary School (Ansan Little), Bae Myung-joong, Bae Myung-go, and Konkuk University, was nominated by the LG Twins as the 43rd overall pick in the second fifth round of the 2020 Rookie Draft. Yoo Young-chan, who failed to make his debut on the first-team stage, was ordered to be called off in 2022 after starting his mandatory military service as a social service worker in 2020.
Then, he signed an official contract with the LG Twins in 2023. His annual salary was 31 million won, which was 1 million won more than his minimum salary of 30 million won. He impressed his coach Yeom Kyung-yeop since the spring camp. He also made his dream debut in the first division in the regular season opening game.
In the early 2023 season, LG Twins’ previous winning team, Ko Woo-suk, briefly exited due to a shoulder injury, while Jung Woo-young and Lee Jung-yong also appeared shaky. However, the “Plan B” that Yeom had prepared for the spring camp shone. Ham Deok-ju, Park Myung-geun, and Yoo Young-chan were the main characters.
In the end, Yoo pitched in 67 games as relief pitcher for the 2023 season, recording six wins, three losses, one save, and 12 holds with an ERA of 3.44. While throwing 68 innings, Yoo garnered 55 hits (four homers), 40 walks, and seven hits, with 55 strikeouts and 27 runs (26 earned runs). Among LG pitchers, he played in the most games after Kim Jin-seong (80 games).
With Ko leaving for the San Diego Padres, head coach Yeom Kyung-yeop decided early on to conclude the 2024 season with Yoo Young-chan. “I think Yoo Young-chan will do a good job. Of course, baseball is not always as I thought it would be. You may have difficulties, for sure. However, I need to help my coaching staff including myself overcome it well. The most important thing is to make a year in which Yoo Young-chan can become a save pitcher,” Yeom said.
“I have fastball speed that is close to a powerful pitcher. I think I can speed up my speed by 1-2 kilometers compared to the current speed. There is also a positive aspect that I can improve my pitching. If I improve my performance in folk balls and sliders through this spring camp, I think I can achieve 30 saves in my first season. I got good scores from my coaching staff in terms of mental and performance, which is what a closing pitcher needs the most. I have no experience as a closing pitcher, but I had a great experience in last year’s Korean Series. I am a pitcher who has a very high probability of success as a closing pitcher in our team.”
Yoo Young-chan, who met with reporters after the LG Twins’ New Year’s greeting at Jamsil Stadium on the 5th, said, “I say I’m a closing pitcher around me, but I don’t think I’ve settled in yet. The opportunity has come, and I’m trying to do my best.”
Yoo contributed to his team’s victory in the Korean Series last year by allowing three hits, one walk, and one run in six innings as relief pitcher in three games. “I did experience in the Korean Series, but I did not play as a closing pitcher,” Yoo said. “I think I will feel more responsibility if I play as a closing pitcher. I tend to worry a lot and feel pressure before going on the mound, but when I play on the mound, I get stronger. I think I should feel it as I wrap it up.”
Yoo Young-chan has already signed an annual salary contract for the 2024 season. According to Star News, Yoo Young-chan’s annual salary is 85 million won 헤라카지노도메인. Compared to the previous 2023 season when he received the lowest annual salary, he has increased by a whopping 174 percent. He became the star of the team’s highest annual salary increase rate across the entire LG Twins team this year. “I will ask a lot of questions to my seniors around me. I will ask for advice from Kim Jin-sung,” Yoo said. “I threw to survive last season. This year, I want to become a pitcher who throws balls in the direction of his team’s victory after being more alert.”
