Han Seung-joo, who is leaving for KT Wiz, said goodbye to Hanwha fans.
He said he made a lot of good memories at Hanwha, and vowed to greet him with a better appearance at KT.
He said, “It was always my pride and happiness to be nominated for the first time in a wonderful place called Hanwha Eagles and to be able to play baseball with a lot of expectations.”
Han Seung-joo said his final greetings on his SNS on the 14th, along with his feelings as a “Hanwha Man.”
KT announced on the 13th, “We appointed right-hander Han Seung-joo as a compensation player for Shim Woo-joon, who signed an FA contract with Hanwha.”
Shim Woo-joon, who acquired the FA qualification at the end of the 2024 season, signed a four-year contract with Hanwha for up to 5 billion won (4.2 billion won in guarantees, 800 million won in options) on the 7th, marking the 2025 season in Hanwha. Since then, KBO announced the approval of Shim Woo-joon’s contract on the 9th.
Since Shim Woo-joon was a B-grade, Hanwha, the original club, handed over a list of 25 protected players to KT, and KT was agonizing over several players and completed the designation of compensation players four days after the contract approval was announced.
Called upon by KT, Han graduated from Busan Suyeong Elementary School, Daecheon Middle School, and Busan High School and joined Hanwha in the 18th place in the second round in 2020. As he received high marks for his stable ball control and other aspects during his high school years, he garnered high expectations. Han’s overall performance in the first team was one win, six losses and two holds with an ERA of 5.97 in 73 innings in four seasons (2020, 2022-2024).
Han Seung-joo pitched in 18 games in the 2024 season with two losses and an 11.45 ERA in 22 innings, and in the Futures League, he posted a comprehensive record of 4-1, 4 holds, 1 save and an ERA of 1.37 in 39 ⅓ innings in 17 games.
As Han Seung-joo experienced both starting (9 games in Tongsan) and bullpen (64 games in Tongsan) in the first team when he was in Hanwha, KT expects that the recruitment will be a great addition to the team regardless of his position.
In fact, Han Seung-joo will join the military next month. Although KT cannot use it as its full strength, it has named him for the future.
“Hello, I’m Han Seung-joo,” Han said, before recounting his five-year memories in Hanwha.
“I still vividly remember the moment when I first went to the U.S. camp in 2020. It would have been too hard if it wasn’t for (Jung) Woo-ram and (Park) Sang-won, who took care of me a lot when I was very lonely and had a hard time,” said Han Seung-joo. “I also felt that if a rookie comes in after me, I should be good to him.” 먹튀검증
She also thanked Chae. “I’ve always been grateful to Chae for her support and help me go to the training camp for the first time this year. I thought I should become a senior with such a nice and polite personality,” she said.
Noh Si-hwan, Hanwha’s flagship player, also mentioned the story from his elementary school days. “I’ve been close to (Roh) Si-hwan since I was a third grader. He was my spiritual support after joining Hanwha,” Han said. “I was so sad. I wonder if there’s another elder brother who I respect and follow like this. I’m ashamed of myself, but I was so grateful for him.”
KT’s expectations are not small.
“I had a lot of interest in Han Seung-joo,” Na Do-hyun, the general manager of the team, told the Expots News on the phone on Wednesday. He soon joined the Sangmu Baseball Team and couldn’t use it right away, but he decided to name Han Seung-joo based on his future. Like Um Sang-baek, I think he can grow up to become a starting pitcher for the April 5th starting pitcher. He clearly deserves good value as a starting pitcher in the long run.”
“It is in a similar vein to the past when Bae was nominated as a new team in the early days of the club’s establishment. We evaluated the future growth potential rather than the current team, which immediately boasts strong capability. We also communicated deeply with the coach to make the decision,” Na said.
Finally, Han Seung-joo said, “It was always my pride and happiness to be able to play baseball in a great place called Hanwha for the first time and to be able to play baseball with a lot of expectations. Hanwha fans always cheered with the loudest cheers, regardless of home or away, and it was overwhelming at every moment,” adding, “I always wanted to play baseball well and always wanted to be helpful to the team, but I’m so sorry that I couldn’t.”
Still, he promised to live as a managing director and later as KT in front of him.
“I’m leaving for KT now, but I’ll always keep the cheers and cheers from the fans in my heart,” he said. “I was really grateful for the five years if it’s short or long. I hope the Hanwha fans are always healthy and happy. Thank you for all that time.”
