"What should I do with the Lotte bullpen?" All-weather right-hander Park Jin will go on the "finish" operating table... "We found ligament damage to the right elbow"

*This content was translated by AI.

Lotte Giants came across unfortunate news even before the start of the season. Park Jin (27), who complained of discomfort in his right elbow, was finally put on the operating table.

A Lotte team official said ahead of the opening match of the 2026 KBO League exhibition game against KT Wiz at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Sajik-dong, Busan on the 12th, "Park Jin has a ligament damage in his right elbow, so he is planning surgery."

It's news I didn't want to hear. Park Jin complained of right elbow pain at Lotte's second spring camp in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan, and returned home on the 3rd. Lotte said at the time, "With only two days left for off-season training, it was decided that Park Jin would return without playing the rest of the game and training schedule."

After returning home, the examination showed the worst results. While it is not yet known exactly what surgery will proceed, elbow surgery has made it inevitable to leave at least a month.

Park Jin is a right-hander who joined the 2019 KBO Rookie Draft as 38th in the fourth round after graduating from Busan National University, Busan Middle School, and Busan High School. The maximum speed is not as fast as 148 kilometers per hour, but it was a resource that also played as a starting pitcher with stable control.

Last year, the second year of the full season, confirmed the possibility. Park Jin-jin recorded 3 wins, 3 losses, 3 holds, 1 save, an ERA of 5.32 and 50 strikeouts in 69 ⅓ innings in 51 games. It was even more prominent because it was a Lotte bullpen with a thin depth. The Lotte bullpen, which had an ERA of 4.65 (8th in the league) last year, was cited as one of the reasons for the fall in the second half.

In the meantime, Park Jin played nearly 70 innings with Kim Kang-hyun and Jung Cheol-won, playing as an all-weather bullpen. He made a save in place of Kim Won-joong, and pitched hard as a starter in Alec Gamboa's position.

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*This content was translated by AI.