Will pitcher Choi Chae-heung (29), who moved from the Samsung Lions to the LG Twins in the pro baseball league, be able to make a successful case as a compensation player for the FA? Will the change of Jamsil Stadium and new team motivate him. 먹튀검증

LG has named left-hander Choi Chae-heung as a compensation player for Choi Won-tae (400 million won per year) who transferred to Samsung as an FA, and decided to receive 200 percent (800 million won) of compensation together. Samsung signed a four-year free agent contract with Choi for up to 7 billion won (2.4 billion won in down payment, 3.4 billion won in salary, and 1.2 billion won in incentives).

Samsung had to concede only 20 players as it recruited A-grade player Choi Won-tae. The number of players was not enough to protect key players including veteran player Oh Seung-hwan and top promising players.

Choi Chae-heung, who joined Samsung with the first nomination in 2018 and will turn 30 next season, was excluded from the protected player. He played as a native ace with 11 wins just four years ago, but he had no choice because he was sluggish for two seasons after being discharged from the military. 

Choi seemed to be displaying talent in the 2020 season, his second full-time starting pitcher. He pitched 146 innings in 26 games, winning 11 games and losing 6 with a 3.58 ERA and 123 strikeouts. He was the top ERA among native pitchers in the league. He recorded five wins and nine losses with a 4.56 ERA in 26 games (122 ⅓ innings) in the 2021 season, and joined the Sangmu Baseball Organization ahead of the 2022 season. 

Choi, who returned to Samsung after being discharged from the military in June 2023, was expected to return to the starting lineup, but his performance continued for a year and a half after he was discharged from the military. He only went 1-7 with a 6.68 ERA in 15 games last year, his first year after being discharged from the military. This year, he only posted an ERA of 6.30 with one hold without losing or losing in 14 games. He was out of the starting lineup in the spring camp and pitched mostly as a bullpen pitcher. He displayed unstable ERA in the six-point range for two consecutive seasons, failing to display his previous pitching capabilities. This was the reason he was not included in the protected roster after all. 

After a slump after being discharged from the military, Samsung worked hard to bring Choi back to his 2020 form. After the 2023 season ended, Choi had been experiencing a driveline training program in Tokyo, Japan, that November. 

Driveline is a customized development program that utilizes biomechanics and attaches sensors to a player's body to derive optimal movements when pitching. It is also known to be effective in improving a pitcher's speed. After making a database of pitching and pitching motions, he learned appropriate training methods. 

After suffering poor performance at the Okinawa spring camp in February this year, he also received overseas training programs. Samsung sent Choi to the U.S. Pitcher Academy for a short-term study abroad to try to revive the team. Choi received a special opportunity to receive personal training at the Scottsdale Push Performance Baseball Center in Arizona for a month in March. 

The third special program for Choi Chae-heung was prepared in the off-season after the end of the season. If he had stayed with Samsung, he would have been dispatched to the Australian Baseball League (ABL). The third project fell through as LG took him as a reward player. 

After returning from his mandatory military service in June 2023, Choi had an ERA of 6.59 in 29 games and 83 ⅓ innings for the past year and a half. At Jamsil Stadium, however, he pitched 24 ⅔ innings in six games, showing a decent record with an ERA of 3.65. He seems to have enjoyed the advantages of Jamsil Stadium. It is a positive indicator that can be expected to rebound after moving to LG. 

LG expects Choi's performance in the 2020 season. If the team recovers its old pitching capability, it will be perfect with five empty starters. LG will select its first to fourth starters, including foreign pitchers Hernandez and Chirinos, native Lim Chan-kyu and Son Joo-young, for next season.