*This content was translated by AI.
In the first five years of implementation, another player began to wriggle in the golden draft, which produced more than eight national teams. The main character is Cho Won-tae (23) of the LG Twins, who throws a fast ball 148 kilometers per hour even though he is a left-hander.
Cho Won-tae met with reporters at Incheon International Airport ahead of his departure from the LG Spring Camp in Scottsdale, Arizona, on the 23rd and laughed, "When I was in the military, Dong-ju (Moon) was the Rookie of the Year, Do-young (Kim) was the MVP in 2024, and Hyun-min (Ahn) was discharged from the military, so I definitely thought I played baseball with scary friends."
The 2022 KBO Rookie Draft, led by those born in 2003, is simply called a mega-jackpot draft. Starting with Moon Dong-ju (23, Hanwha Eagles), who won the 2022 Rookie of the Year award, Park Young-hyun (23, KT Wiz), 2024 MVP Kim Do-young (23, KIA Tigers), and 2025 Rookie of the Year Ahn Hyun-min (23, KT), players who will become the main players of Korean baseball poured in.
In addition to the title holder, they can set up a starting lineup for the national team, including blue lion duo Lee Jae-hyun (23), Kim Young-woong (23, Samsung Lions), and next-generation franchise star Yoon Dong-hee (23, Lotte Giants).
At the time of joining the team, Cho Won-tae was no less than expected. Cho Won-tae is a left-hander who joined LG with the first nomination after graduating from Toseong Elementary School (Kangdong Goolittle), University Bujung, and Sunlin Internet High School. Throwing fast balls up to 148 kilometers per hour left three Seoul-based teams in agony until the end, and eventually became LG's last first designated player.
However, growth has been slow. In his first year of debut, he made his debut with a 0 ERA in two games in the first team, but his control was a problem. He played 84 innings in 26 games in the Futures League until 2023, but had 56 walks and a 6.86 ERA. In the end, he joined the military athletic unit without being able to go and returned to LG in May last year.
The returning LG mound was higher. In the left-hander, Son Joo-young and Song Seung-ki are in the starting lineup, Ham Deok-ju and Lachlan Wells are holding on to the bullpen. Left-handed hopefuls are also seen in up-and-coming categories such as Junsung Park and conditional-hee.
In response, Cho Won-tae said, "Now LG's left-hander is powerful. If I don't get through it here, I don't think I'll be able to run anywhere. I will do my best to win as much as I can. I'm looking forward to a good result because I've prepared a lot for the offseason with a positive thought that I can do image training itself."
That's how much we prepared. To escape from fastball-slider two-pitch, I worked hard on developing and mastering pitches. Cho Won-tae said, "I'm confident in my direct purchase. I'm confident that I won't get hit hard by throwing a fastball. The breaking ball also practiced a lot to keep the slider he originally had from not floating. "In the meantime, I feel like I'm floating, so I'm trying to take the angle a little faster," he explained.
"We prepared the splitter hard from the final camp because there were no changeups and splitter against left-handed hitters. Change-up was really difficult because I asked Deok-ju a lot. Deok-ju's grip is really the only grip he throws, so I think the splitter is the best for me," he added.
For the past seven months, I've only focused on building my body. As he has been active, it was an urgent priority to find a real sense. Cho Won-tae said, "I did a military discharge program for three months after being discharged from the military. Then, since early August, I've thrown a practice game for the Remainers in the third division, but I'm sure I haven't come up. "I didn't have good control or balance, so I set my goal again to increase my body speed," he said.
"It's not a satisfactory performance in the Ulsan fall league because I trained hard with coach Choi Sang-deok, but it paid off. At the last practice game of the season, the maximum speed was 148 kilometers per hour. In the match against Cheongbaek, 146 was consistent, but the more the number of games played in the Ulsan game, the more tired it was. I did a lot of research to make pitching foam that was not burdensome," he said.
As the first-team record is only four innings, he is still eligible for the Rookie of the Year award. However, it is LG's first nomination, which has matured more without rushing. Cho Won-tae said, "All my friends born in 2003 wrote the best scenario. Actually, the Rookie of the Year award is not my goal. I'm trying to keep my goal as short as possible for now," he said with force.
"It's been almost three years since the spring camp, and the first goal is to make a good impression as I'm lucky to go to the United States. I thought I could go to the first team only if I didn't get sick, so I made my body as good as possible. I want to do well and go to the second camp in Okinawa, go to an exhibition game, and be in the opening entry," he said.
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*This content was translated by AI.
