Kiwoom Heroes cherish An Woo-jin even more! Additional rest granted → Scheduled to start against Doosan on the 2nd. "No rush, aligning with Ha Young-min's routine"

*This content was translated by AI.

Kiwoom Heroes are cherishing their ace, An Woo-jin (27), even more. Although he has smoothly completed his build-up process after returning, Kiwoom manager Seol Jong-jin (53) has decided not to rush and instead granted him additional rest. As a result, Bae Dong-hyun will face the Lotte Giants on the 30th, followed by Ha Young-min, and then Ahn Ju-jun will take the mound.

Manager Seol Jong-jin met with reporters on the 29th ahead of the game against the Lotte Giants at Busan Sajik Stadium and outlined his future starting rotation plans. The most notable point was undoubtedly An Woo-jin's start schedule.

Manager Seol confirmed, "The rotation for the upcoming weekend against Doosan will be Ha Young-min, An Woo-jin, and Park Jun-hyun in that order." Although An Woo-jin could have taken the mound before Ha Young-min initially, Manager Seol explained that he decided to respect Ha Young-min's existing start routine while also giving An Woo-jin two additional days of rest.

Manager Seol explained, "Ha Young-min has an existing rotation and routine, so we intend to keep him aligned with that. As for (Ahn) Woo-jin, while his build-up is complete, since he is a player who underwent surgery, we judged that resting a bit longer would have a better effect on his physical condition and pitch quality." He is expected to aim for five innings when he takes the mound on the 2nd. However, if the pitch count increases significantly, there is also a plan to pull him out in the fourth inning.

In fact, after undergoing elbow surgery and completing his social service duty in 2023, An Woo-jin has been carefully managing his pitch count to improve his condition since his return in the game against Lotte at Gocheok on the 12th. In the game against Samsung at Gocheok on the 24th, he threw a fastball reaching up to 160 km/h, pitched three innings perfectly, and signaled that all preparations were complete. He will now step out as a sole starter, moving away from the "1+1" start method with Bae Dong-hyun. This is why Manager Seol Jong-jin is thought to be taking extra care in buttoning up the first step.

Meanwhile, Kiwoom removed foreign pitcher Raul Alcantara from the roster to give him rest. Manager Seol stated, "We had planned from the beginning of the season to give the starters a break from the rotation once in the first half. I spoke with Alcantara, and he was grateful. He will complete exactly 10 days and is scheduled to return around next weekend." Accordingly, "rookie" Park Jun-hyun (19) will get another start opportunity in the Doosan game on Sunday (the 3rd).

Regarding Oh Seok-ju, who has been fulfilling his role as a substitute starter, Manager Seol said, "We are thinking of around four to five innings. We will decide the final rotation for this week after seeing how he pitches today." He added, "Once the visa procedures for the substitute foreign pitcher Rosenberg are completed, we will reorganize the overall starting lineup." Currently, Rosenberg's visa-related procedures are not progressing due to Japan's Golden Week holiday. Nevertheless, the plan is to bring him over as quickly as possible.

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*This content was translated by AI.