What role will right-hander Hwang Dong-jae play in the 2025 season.
Through this stove league, Samsung has beefed up its starting lineup. It signed a four-year contract worth up to 7 billion won (2.4 billion won in down payment, 3.4 billion won in annual salary, and 1.2 billion won in incentives) with Choi, who was considered one of the “biggest starting pitchers.” Choi, who was unlikely to remain with the LG Twins, wore a Samsung uniform.
It didn’t end there. Samsung broke up with Connor Seabold, a foreign pitcher who couldn’t afford to play in the postseason due to pain in his shoulder blade. Connor was replaced by Furado. Samsung held Furado for a total of 1 million dollars (down payment of 300,000 dollars, annual salary of 700,000 dollars). Furado was a top foreign pitcher who played as an ace for the Kiwoom Heroes for two seasons.
By recruiting Choi Won-tae and Furado, Samsung succeeded in strengthening its starting rotation. Samsung now has a strong starting lineup consisting of Furado, Denny Reyes, Won Tae-in, Choi Won-tae and Lee Seung-hyun. Samsung, which advanced to the Korean Series for the first time in nine years in the 2024 season but lost to the KIA Tigers, pulled its sword to seek the championship.
There is a player whose position has become ambiguous with all of the first to fifth starters in place. It is Hwang Dong-jae. After going through Yulha Elementary School, Gyeongwoon Middle School and Gyeongbuk High School, Hwang Dong-jae, a native of Daegu, joined Samsung as the first draft pick for the 2020 rookie draft. Samsung expected Hwang Dong-jae, who is from Gyeongbuk High School like Won Tae-in, to become the successor to Won Tae-in. 안전놀이터
Contrary to expectations, Hwang has yet to come out of the game. He has played the role of the fifth starter since the 2022 season, but has been sluggish in 16 games with one win and three losses and a 7.06 ERA. In the 2023 season, he only had five losses and a 7.11 ERA (25 earned runs in 31 ⅔ innings).
Hwang Dong-jae, who went between starting and bullpen in the 2024 season, performed better than before with one win, two losses and an ERA of 4.07 in 15 games. He started in Game 3 of the playoffs against the LG Twins on October 17 and pitched well with one hit and three strikeouts in three innings, but collapsed in the Korean Series. He played in Game 2 of the Korean Series against the KIA Tigers on October 23, but was substituted early with five runs in ⅔ innings.
After the season ended, Hwang went to study in the U.S. with his teammate Lee Jae-hyun. Samsung sent Hwang to Cressey Sports Performance (CSP), a baseball program facility in West Palm Beach, Florida. Samsung hopes that Hwang will be equipped with a training routine to improve his ball control. The period runs until the 23rd.
As Samsung’s starting rotation has been completed, Hwang Dong-jae is unlikely to start. If it is difficult to select, it can be used as a long relief with relatively little physical burden. Hwang Dong-jae, who played this role in the 2024 season, showed his potential with nine games, one loss and an ERA of 4.26. Attention is focusing on how Samsung coach Park Jin-man will make a judgment on Hwang Dong-jae.
