"Oh my gosh" disappeared from the first team after signing his first FA contract, why? → It turned out that there was a reason

*This content was translated by AI.

The main character was recognized for his skills by signing his first free agent contract. However, with the KBO League exhibition game opening, his name disappeared from the lineup. Not only in the starting lineup but also in the first-team entry. It turned out that there was a reason. If he was in the first team, he feared that his playing time would be reduced. The main character is Doosan Specialist Cho Soo-haeng (33).

Cho signed his first FA contract with Doosan in November last year on the condition of up to 1.6 billion won for four years (600 million down payment, 800 million annual salary, 200 million incentives).

He is a specialist who is on an exemplary path. Cho was the fifth overall pick in the second round of the first round in the 2016 rookie draft. The down payment for joining the team is 140 million won. This year marks the 12th year of his professional career.

Cho has played in 905 KBO league games until last season, batting .256 (298 hits in 1,166 at-bats), four home runs, two doubles, nine triples, 99 RBIs, 281 runs, and 180 steals (39 failed) with 234 strikeouts, a slugging percentage of 0.303 and a on-base percentage of 0.324. He made nine mistakes in his career.

Having played 119 games in the 2018 season, he again played 115 games in the 2021 season, becoming a first-team player. Above all, he showed off his fast feet by recording 20 steals (15th in KBO history) for five consecutive seasons from the 2021 season. Finally, he became the steal king with 64 stolen bases in the 2024 season.

The success rate of stolen bases is overwhelming. Cho has a success rate of 82.2 percent. This is the second highest success rate after Kim Hye-sung (85.1 percent), who is currently playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the U.S. Major League Baseball (MLB) among the players who have recorded more than 160 steals in the KBO league.

Such Cho has not appeared in this year's exhibition game. He headed to the second team without being included in the first team entry. What is the reason.

Doosan manager Kim Won-hyung said, "I sent him to the second division after practicing (on the 11th, a day before the exhibition game). It's not for any other reason, I asked him to play a little bit. (Joe) Haeng-yi can't start much here (in the 1st division), so I hope he plays a lot of at-bats in the 2nd division practice game," he explained.

It's not just about Jo. Infielder Park Joon-soon (20), who made an impression as Doosan's top rookie last season, is also in the second division, not the first division. Manager Kim said, "(Park) Jun-soon also lacks defensive innings. I asked him to gain more experience (in the second division). He added, "I'll play two or three more games."

It is not easy to accept, especially for key players, to hear the notification of the second division. Director Kim said, "I spent it talking well. They agreed and went. It's just a process of competing to join the opening entry. It's not an absolute power exclusion. Among the players who could not come to the first-team camp, there were many players with good reports. While playing 12 exhibition games, I plan to check extensively. My principle is that the player in the best condition goes out first," he stressed.

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*This content was translated by AI.