Veteran left-handed pitcher Cha Woo-chan’s baseball clock started spinning again.
Lotte Giants pitcher Cha Woo-chan came out as a starter in the 2023 KBO Futures League SSG Landers Futures team held at Sangdong Stadium on the 10th. Ahead of this season, Cha Woo-chan, wearing a Lotte uniform, played a real game for the first time in his season.메이저놀이터
He didn’t play many innings. He only digested one inning lightly. Cha Woo-chan struck out Kim Jeong-min with a fly ball in right field and Choi Yu-bin with a swinging miss. He got a left-handed hit by Choi Jun-woo, but Ryu Ho-seung struck out on a swing and ended the inning without conceding a run. Before the start of the second inning, he passed the mound to Choi Young-hwan. The highest speed was 134 km, and the average speed was 133 km. He pitched 1 inning, striking out 2 and giving up no runs.
Cha Woo-chan’s baseball clock started spinning again. Photo = Courtesy of Lotte Giants
Cha Woo-chan was released from the LG Twins after the end of last season. Lotte reached out to Cha Woo-chan, who had nowhere to go but wanted to continue his career as a player. Lotte signed Cha Woo-chan for an annual salary of 50 million won.
Lotte said, “As Cha Woo-chan has devoted himself to rehabilitation after leaving due to a shoulder injury during the 2021 season, we expect to be able to show a good figure if we make use of his long experience as a player. In particular, as a veteran, he is expected to have a positive influence on young players and set an example.”
Cha Woo-chan joined the Samsung Lions in the 2nd 1st round 7th in 2006. He played an active role in the Samsung dynasty, such as contributing to Samsung’s 4th consecutive year of combined championships. Cha Woo-chan, who showed solid pitching, moved to LG ahead of the 2017 season on the condition that he receive a total of 8.4 billion won over four years.
As soon as Cha Woo-chan came to LG, he showed his best performance. He played an active role as the ace of LG left-handers by winning double-digit multipliers for three consecutive years.
However, his injuries got in the way. Cha Woo-chan, who spent a long time in rehabilitation due to shoulder pain, endured the pain to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. However, after the tournament, he suffered another shoulder injury and had to be operated on. His left shoulder supraspinatus tear and joint labrum damage, he underwent surgery in the United States in September 2021, and an indefinite rehabilitation period continued.
He played 13 games in the 2020 season and 5 games in the 2021 season. In the 2022 season, there is no record of participating in the first team game. The Futures League also only participated in 3 games in the 2021 season and 2 games in the 2022 season. In the 2022 season, a return match was played in September, but the season ended without a call-up.
Lotte tries to burn the last flame. Cha Woo-chan recorded 112 wins, 79 losses, 1 save and 32 holds with an average ERA of 4.51 in 457 first-team matches.
Will Cha Woo-chan be able to stand on the stage of his first team again? Cha Woo-chan’s last first-team appearance was against the Hanwha Eagles on July 5, 2021. Sutton Lotte coach is also waiting for Cha Woo-chan.
Director Sutton said, “Everything has stages. Rehabilitation has just finished. I heard you did a great job on this first step. He will continue to build up until he is in good shape.” At the same time, he said, “First of all, I am thinking of a bullpen pitcher. He can take one hitter, or he can take one inning,” he added.
Cha Woo-chan is scheduled to pitch during a practice game against Gangneung Yeongdong University on the 17th.