Choi Won-joon (29, Doosan Bears) could not break the bad luck of being a no win in Busan.
Choi Won-joon started an away game against the Lotte Giants in the 2023 KBO League regular season held at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the 10th and pitched 7 innings, 7 hits (1 home run), 1 walk, 6 strikeouts and 3 runs. With the good pitching that day, his personal earned run average slightly decreased from 4.02 to 4.00. However, instead of the victory requirement, the defeat requirement was added to the good fight. This is because there was not a single point of scoring support given to him during 7 innings.
Choi Won-joon is a proven starting card for Doosan, who won 30 wins in 3 years from 2020 to last year. However, since last year, Seung-woon has not followed suit. Last year, he recorded an average ERA of 3.60, but recorded 8 wins and 13 losses (1st place in most losses), and this season, while recording an average ERA of 4.02 as of the 9th, he accumulated only two losses without a win.
On this day, he did his part as a starter, but even though he pitched well, the requirement for a winning pitcher ignored him. The pitching wasn’t perfectly smooth. He struck out 2 perfect in the 1st inning, allowed only 1 hit in the 2nd inning, and was clean only when blocking. In particular, he blocked the second inning with an economical pitch that threw only 7 pitches to four batters.
However, he suddenly shook 3 times. He allowed lead hitter Yoo Kang-nam to hit right after putting a fastball into the low strike zone, and the follow-up hitter Yoon Dong-hee was hit with a heavy hit and was in danger of conceding a run. He took a breather by striking out a swing after two bunt fouls on follow-up hitter Min-seok Kim, but allowed Go Seung-min a large double that hit the fence behind the right fielder and eventually gave up the first run.
In the 4th episode, he was hit with an unexpected blow. Faced with lead hitter An Chi-hong, he threw a slider at 124 km per hour high, then allowed a left-handed solo home run with a batting speed of 151.3 km/h and a distance of 110 m.
He was skilled nonetheless. Choi Won-joon, who finished the remaining innings with 6 balls against the Lotte center batting line even after conceding a run in the 3rd inning, made an efficient throw to get 3 out counts with only 5 pitches even after receiving the ‘shock’ of a home run in the 4th inning. There were definitely some misplaced balls that were boldly inserted into the middle of the strike zone, but it was possible thanks to the control power of hitting both ends of the strike zone and even the corner.
He finished with one walk in the 5th inning and a tripartite in the 6th, but the 7th inning was off the charts. Choi Won-joon, who only pitched 72 pitches until the 6th inning, climbed the mound in the 7th inning as well. But is it because he has lost his strength, or is it because the burden has been added to Binta? The sense of stability he showed from episode 4 to episode 6 shook again. Choi Won-joon, who faced a crisis with a run on second base with Noh Jin-hyeok’s hit and Park Seung-wook’s bunt, was hit by Yoo Gang-nam’s double at the right time and eventually gave up one more run. He blocked subsequent batters and met the requirements for a quality start (6 or more starting innings and 3 earned runs or less), but he was one step away from winning the team 메이저놀이터.
In the end, Doosan got off the mound when Choi Won-joon, who had done his part until the 7th inning, was in a situation where the 0-3 losing pitcher was required. It was the fourth quality start of the season, but Choi Won-joon’s victory remained at zero regardless of the final result of the match.