Left-handed pitcher Choi Chae-hung of the professional baseball LG Twins recorded a scoreless game against his former team, the Samsung Lions. This marks three consecutive scoreless games in the exhibition series. However, Choi Chae-hung will not be included in the regular season opening roster and is expected to start the season in the Futures League. It's a step back for two steps forward.

Choi Chae-hung appeared as a relief pitcher in the exhibition game against Samsung held on 14th at Daegu Samsung Lions Park, recording a scoreless inning with three batters faced.

It was a matchup against his former team. Choi Chae-hung took the mound at the bottom of the seventh inning with his team trailing 3-5. The first batter was Lee Byeong-heon, and Kang Min-ho came in as a pinch hitter. Samsung fans applauded Kang Min-ho.

Choi Chae-hung got Kang Min-ho out on a foul fly to first base with his first pitch, a fastball at 139 km/h. He faced Shim Jae-hoon, pitching 2 balls and 1 strike before getting a ground ball to the third baseman for the second out. Against Kim Jae-hyuk, he induced a swing and miss with a slow curve on a 1 ball and 1 strike count, then struck out with a slider to end the inning.

Choi Chae-hung has appeared in three exhibition games until the 14th, pitching 3 innings with 1 hit allowed, 2 walks, 1 strikeout, and no earned runs. He recorded a scoreless inning with no hits and 1 walk against KT on 9th, and another scoreless inning with 1 hit and 1 walk against Lotte on 1st. Although his fastball velocity did not exceed 140 km/h, his pitching overall has been satisfactory. However, he will not be included in the opening roster.

Manager Yeom Kyung-yup noted, "Choi Chae-hung seems to need a bit more work. Rather than immediately, we are planning to see him in the second team as a starter in the rotation, allowing him to come back later." He was initially planned to be used as a reliever in the first team, but the plan was modified to have him as support for the mid-to-late season.

Manager Yeom commented on Choi Chae-hung, saying, "We are looking at him as both a starter and a reliever. He can do it any time as a reliever. Rather than pitching 1 inning in the second team, he needs to find what he thinks by changing his pitching design as a starter. There are things we discussed with the pitching coach. We will test him as a starter by letting him throw nearly 90 pitches to get a feel for it and see the results."

With left-handed relief pitchers Kim Yoo-young and Lee Woo-chan available, time can be invested to help Choi Chae-hung rediscover his past good form instead of using him immediately in the first team.

Choi Chae-hung transferred from Samsung to LG as a compensation player for free agent Choi Won-tae (Samsung, 4 years up to 7 billion won) in mid-December last year. Choi Chae-hung, who joined Samsung as the first overall pick in 2018, had a career-high season in 2020 with 26 games, 11 wins, 6 losses, and an earned run average of 3.68.

However, he struggled after returning from military service with the Sangmu team during 2022-2023. He returned during the middle of the 2023 season, appearing in 15 games with 1 win, 7 losses, and an earned run average of 6.68, and finished the 2024 season with 14 games at 6.40 earned run average without a win or loss. Although he was drafted as the first overall pick, Samsung ultimately excluded Choi Chae-hung from the protected player list, and LG brought him in as a free agent compensation player.

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