"I'll catch you, JANG SEONG WU" There was a reason why he was the first to recruit backup catcher '4 years and 1 billion won' due to his strong will

*This content was translated by AI.

In November last year, the reason why KT Wiz secured the first backup catcher was revealed in two months.

"Kang Hyun-woo underwent hip surgery in mid-December last year," a KT club official said on the phone with Star News on the 19th. In the meantime, there has been continuous inconvenience in the area and the final decision was made in December. The rehabilitation period is expected to be four to five months," he said.

This was the reason why Kang Hyun-woo (22) was excluded from the list of KT's Australian spring camp announced on the 18th. Kang Hyun-woo is a catcher who joined KT as the second runner-up in the second round of the 2020 KBO Rookie Draft after graduating from Wonjong Elementary School (Bucheon City Little), Bucheon Middle School, and Yushin High School.

As shown in the order of the draft, it has attracted attention as a large prospect with a long shot power. The first team has yet to produce a clear result. In the Futures League, he played in 149 games and showed potential with a batting average of 0.310 (123 hits in 397 at-bats), eight homers and 70 RBIs, and an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 0.823. He was going to compete with Cho Dae-hyun (27) again this year for the next main catcher position to succeed Jang Sung-woo (36).

It was also the reason why everyone expressed doubts when KT recruited veteran catcher Han Seung-taek (32) first on November 20 last year. KT actively participated in the FA market this winter with the aim of strengthening the center line and strengthening the lineup.

Shortstop Park Chan-ho (31) and center fielder Park Hae-min (36) were actively recruited, and both Jang Sung-woo and Hwang Jae-gyun (39), who were internal FA, planned to stay. In particular, regarding Jang Sung-woo, who was the main catcher, KT expressed a strong will to "catch the team's essential player."

KT's first recruitment was Han Seung-taek, which was unexpected. Han Seung-taek is a veteran catcher with a batting average of 0.208 (235 hits in 1,132 at-bats) with 19 home runs and 118 RBIs and an OPS of 0.585 in 13 seasons since his debut in the first division in 2013. It seemed like an excessive investment to bring a backup catcher by investing 1 billion won for four years in the home turf, which already had three first-team players.

However, if Kang Hyun-woo's possibility of surgery was high, the reason why Han Seung-taek was recruited first can be explained. Jang Sung-woo also showed a strong will to remain at KT, but the FA needed a clear resource because the situation could change rapidly at any time.

Han Seung-taek, who contributed to winning the KIA Tigers as a defense in 2017 and 2024, has no more reliable backup resource. In the Futures League last year, he also showed good performance with a batting average of 0.373 in 43 games and two home runs and 30 RBIs, which can be expected to rebound in batting.

KT's general manager Na Do-hyun said, "Han Seung-taek has the ability to stop a good steal based on his strong shoulders. He explained the reason, "He is a catcher with a lot of experience in the first team, and he was recruited immediately to strengthen the catcher's team with a sense of power."

Meanwhile, most of KT's players will leave the country with coach Lee Kang-chul on the 21st. Ko Young-pyo, So Hyung-joon, Park Young-hyun, and Ahn Hyun-min, who will return from Saipan, a U.S. territory, on the same day, will join Australia separately on the 23rd. While there is still a difference in position with Jang Sung-woo, attention is being paid to whether he will be able to go out together with a dramatic contract even through a later team on the 23rd.

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*This content was translated by AI.