"You don't have to say anything. You're good at it" Coach Choi Il-eon will hold a showcase to select "the only rookie" against the national team

*This content was translated by AI.

Choi Il-eon (65), the first-team pitching coach of the Samsung Lions, who is cool in evaluating players, is the only rookie who has declared no touch. It is Jang Chan-hee (19), who was nominated as the 29th overall in the third round of the 2026 KBO Rookie Draft.

Coach Choi Il-eon recently met with Star News at the 2026 Samsung Spring Camp at Akama Ball Park in Onnason, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, and said, "These days, players have thoughts, so they don't listen to everything even if the coach says it. That's fine. However, I'm glad if I do well on my own, but I can't do it, but if I do, it's frustrating," he said.

At the same time, "There are players who are good at it. It's Jang Chan-hee running over there. Jang Chan-hee is now looking for what she needs. If that happens, we don't talk about it separately," he praised.

Jang Chan-hee is the ace who won Gyeongnam High School's first presidential cup last year and won the Bonghwangdaegi championship in 22 years. Despite the ankle injury at the beginning of the season, he raised his form from the summer to finish the third year season with 8 wins and 2 losses, a 1.63 ERA, and 65 strikeouts in 72 ⅓ innings in 18 official games.

Jang Chan-hee's strength, which KBO club scouts say in unison, is his stable control and consistency from game management. The maximum speed is only 148 kilometers per hour. However, he was classified as a starting resource by stably using various pitching types such as slider, change-up, and fork.

He is also the only rookie in this spring camp along with Lee Ho-beom (19), who was nominated in the first round. The spring camp is also receiving positive reviews every day. Even though he is a rookie who has not yet grown up, he has quickly raised his pace and is ready to be put into actual games.

Jang Chan-hee, who met with reporters at the spring camp on the 19th, said, "In the game, I focused on building my body. In Okinawa, I'm focusing on building my body because it's important to prepare technical parts according to the team's atmosphere, he said.

Jang Chan-hee, who has gained about 5kg, is focusing all her attention on strengthening her fastball and adjusting her breaking ball control in addition to her physical strength. It is to take the mound as a starting pitcher someday. Jang Chan-hee said, "There is no exact position yet, so I think we should aim to enter the first team until the position is decided. I also want to make sure that I don't get hurt and my ball power doesn't drop during the season. I don't know right now, but I want to be a starting pitcher later," he said.

Surprisingly, the opportunity came quickly. This is because Won Tae-in (26), the ace of blue blood, is uncertain to join the opening game due to an elbow injury, and he needs more resources to start the fifth. Samsung's expectations for Jang Chan-hee were also revealed in the practice game plan.

Samsung will play a practice game against the Korean national baseball team at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) at Kadena Stadium on the 26th. On this day, Jang Chan-hee will take the mound as his second pitcher and play two innings. This is Samsung's third practice game. It is safe to say that entrusting multi-innings from an early point in time confirms the possibility as a starting pitcher.

According to Jang Chan-hee, he has already thrown more than 70 pitches in Guam. Will the rookie be able to get a chance at this showcase that was caught by chance.

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.