Yoon Dae-kyung, who devoted himself to the "Dark Age of Hanwha," will be released → "finally" retirement, trying to walk the path of a leader"

*This content was translated by AI.

Right-hander Yoon Dae-kyung (32), who has been silently guarding the bullpen mound of the Hanwha Eagles, took off his uniform and declared himself to leave the ground he had become attached to since his release. But his baseball career is not expected to stop there. Yoon Dae-kyung, who finished her journey as a player, said, "I want to be helpful as a 'leader' now."

Yoon Dae-kyung said on his SNS on the 4th, "Now I'm going to finish my journey as a player and walk the path of a leader. I will do my best to become a leader who can provide practical help to junior players by making the most of my experience as a professional player," he said.

Yoon Dae-kyung was listed on the list of non-renewable contracts for the 2026 season announced by Hanwha on November 21 last year. Pitchers, including Yoon Dae-kyung, had Jang Min-jae, Jang Si-hwan, and Lee Choong-ho, while infielders Kim In-hwan and Cho Han-min also failed to avoid the blade of their release.

Yoon Dae-kyung, who graduated from Dong Incheon Middle School and Incheon High School, entered the professional stage by wearing the Samsung Lions uniform as the 65th overall in the seventh round of the 2013 season's rookie draft. However, Samsung was notified of the release immediately after the 2017 season without making the first-team stage and moved on to Niigata Albirex BC, a Japanese independent league in the 2019 season. Meanwhile, he joined Hanwha in July 2019.

Since then, he has devoted himself silently on the mound of Hanwha, which was in the dark age. Hanwha did not play fall baseball until the 2025 season after the 2018 season. Yoon Dae-kyung, who took the mound in the first-team game from the 2020 season, posted a record of 16 wins, 15 losses and a 4.44 ERA in 177 games from the 2020 season to the 2024 season. In particular, in the 2020 season, he recorded an outstanding record of 1.59 ERA with five wins and no losses.

And Yoon Dae-kyung threw more than 70 innings in two consecutive seasons in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. When the team was needed, it even filled the vacancy in the starting rotation. However, Yoon Dae-kyung, who failed to take the mound in the first division in the 2025 season, was mainly in the second division. In 16 games in the second-tier Futures League, he was not bad with a 2.35 ERA with two wins and no losses, but he was on the release list.

Immediately after his release, Yoon Dae-kyung seems to have tried to continue his dream of extending his active career. Yoon Dae-kyung, who appeared on "Ambitious Man Kim Hwan," a YouTube channel run by Kim Hwan, a former baseball player, in December last year, said, "Nothing has been decided yet. No specific story has come and gone. First of all, it would be best if an offer came from Korea, but it is not easy. It seems that there is a greater possibility that he will not call him right now because he has only been in the second division for the past two years and his arrest has decreased. So, I think there may be an opportunity if I show you my strength again on the stage where I can show you," he said.

Yoon Dae-kyung then said, "The Japanese independent league is also considered. I thought it was a stage where I could prove to some extent against the Japanese second-tier team. Even in the long run, even if I can't make a comeback, I think there is something I can learn from experiencing the Japanese second-tier league."

However, Yoon Dae-kyung decided to retire after waiting and chose the leader. He aims to pass on the numerous twists and turns he has experienced on the professional stage and valuable experiences he has gained in the process to his juniors.

On his retirement announcement, Lee Tae-yang (KIA Tigers) and Jang Jin-hyuk (KT Wiz) left a greeting saying that their teammates at Hanwha Eagles did a good job. That dedication attitude, which played a role in the bullpen regardless of the starter and bullpen when the team was in trouble, now leads to a strong foundation for raising the potential of prospects.

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*This content was translated by AI.