Professional baseball's Doosan Bears left-handed pitcher Choi Seung-yong (24) proved his qualifications as the fourth starter.

Choi Seung-yong started the exhibition game against the Hanwha Eagles on the 8th at Cheongju Sports Complex, pitching 4 innings, allowing 2 hits, 2 walks, striking out 1, and giving up 1 run, leading Doosan to a 6-4 victory. According to exhibition game regulations, Choi earned a win as a starter with 4 innings and 1 run.

The start of the first inning was not good. Choi got Hanwha's first batter Lee Jin-young to pop out to the shortstop on the first pitch but allowed Moon Hyun-bin to get an infield single and Estevan Florial to hit a double to the right-center. After walking No Si-hwan, in the ensuing situation with one out and the bases loaded, he allowed a sacrifice fly to right fielder Chae Eun-sung, resulting in his first run. However, with two outs and runners on first and second, he struck out Hwang Young-mook looking with a slider at the edge of the outside zone, finishing the first inning without allowing any additional runs.

From the second inning, Choi found stability. He got Im Jong-chan to hit a ground ball to second base, Choi Jae-hoon to pop out to second base, and Shim Woo-jun to pop out to left field, completing a perfect inning. In the third inning, he allowed Lee Jin-young to walk but induced Kim Tae-yeon into a ground ball to shortstop for a 6-4-3 double play. He then got Florial to ground out to first base with a forkball on the first pitch, maintaining his stability.

In the fourth inning, he got No Si-hwan to hit a ground ball to shortstop, Chae Eun-sung to hit a ground ball to third base, and Hwang Young-mook to hit a ground ball to second base, getting all three batters out on ground balls. He disrupted the timing of the batters with a slow curve.

With a total of 64 pitches, there were 39 strikes and 25 balls. He evenly used five types of pitches, including a fastball with a maximum speed of 146 km/h and an average of 142 km/h (27 pitches), as well as sliders (20 pitches), curves, forkballs (more than 8 pitches), and a sweeper (1 pitch).

After the game, Choi Seung-yong said, "As it is an exhibition game, I entrusted the pitch selection to my senior Yang, focusing instead on maintaining a consistent delivery for my fastballs and changeups, and I was satisfied with the result." He briefly wavered in the early stages of the game but soon found his pitch balance, demonstrating stable control while maintaining an aggressive approach and a fast tempo.

Choi Seung-yong continued, "I regret the mistake pitch I threw to Florial in the first inning, but since it's the first game, it seems my velocity hasn't fully returned. I will focus on getting my body in shape before the start of the season." Although he was not satisfied with himself, according to TrackMan, Choi's fastball velocity on this day reached a competitive 146 km/h.

Doosan has confirmed four starters this year: foreign pitchers Cole Irvin, Jack Logue, and domestic ace Kwak Bin, along with Choi Seung-yong. With Choi Won-jun, Choi Joon-ho, and Kim Yoo-sung competing for the final fifth starter spot, Choi Seung-yong has already been appointed as the fourth starter. Selected by Doosan in the second round with the 20th overall pick in 2021, Choi showed promise in 2023 with 34 games (20 starts, 111 innings), recording 3 wins, 6 losses, 1 save, and an earned run average of 3.97.

Last year, when expectations were high for him as a full-time starter, he suffered a pitching arm injury. He missed the first half of the season due to an elbow stress fracture. After returning in the second half, he recorded 12 games (6 starts, 27 innings), with 2 wins, 1 hold, and an earned run average of 6.00, but confirmed his potential by winning his last two games as a starter.

Doosan's manager Lee Seung-yeop indicated that if Choi Seung-yong's physical condition is good from the early part of the camp, he intends to continue with him as the fourth starter. Choi, who is steadily improving his pace, proved his qualifications as the fourth starter with stable pitching from the first day of the exhibition games.

Choi Seung-yong pledged, "I want to thank the fans who came to support us in Cheongju, and I hope to be a player who helps the team without getting injured and playing full time this season as a starting pitcher."

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