Pitcher Koo Chang-mo, who is scheduled to be discharged in June, excelled in his first appearance in the Futures League.

Koo Chang-mo, who is part of the Military, started the game against the Samsung Lions in the 2025 Futures League on the 19th at the Mungyeong Baseball Stadium. He threw 5 innings (58 pitches), allowing 3 hits (1 home run) without walks, struck out 8 batters, and became the winning pitcher by giving up 1 run. The Military won 12-5.

Koo Chang-mo recorded his first out in the 1st inning by getting lead-off hitter Kim Seong-yoon to ground out to second base on the first pitch. He allowed a single to Kim Jae-hyeok but ended the inning with a swinging strikeout against Kim Young-woong and a looking Samjin against Lee Chang-yong.

In the 2nd inning, he retired the side in order with 9 pitches, and in the 3rd inning, he struck out 2 batters and continued his perfect pitching by retiring the side in order. In the 4th inning, he got Kim Jae-hyeok to pop out to the catcher and struck out Kim Young-woong looking. After 2 outs, he gave up a solo home run to Lee Chang-yong.

In the 5th inning, after catching Hamsu-ho with a 3-pitch Samjin, he allowed a double to Shin Jae-hun to right-center. However, he managed to prevent any scoring with a groundout to third base and a flyout to second base.

Koo Chang-mo demonstrated stable pitching, recording a maximum fastball speed of 145 km/h on the day. He struck out 8 batters, and aside from the 3 hits, there were no balls hit into the outfield.

Koo Chang-mo, who enlisted in December 2023, is scheduled to be discharged in June. NC Dinos is looking forward to Koo's return in the middle of the season.

Koo Chang-mo was a key player in NC's first overall victory in the 2020 season. In the regular season, he recorded 9 wins, no losses and 1 hold with an earned run average of 1.74 over 15 games (93⅓ innings). He also performed well in the Korean Series, with a record of 1 win, 1 loss and an earned run average of 1.38 over 2 games (13 innings).

Koo Chang-mo rose to be a top-class left-handed pitcher in the league but faced frequent injuries. He did not make any appearances in 2021 due to a stress fracture injury in his left forearm. After returning at the end of May 2022, he recorded 11 wins, 5 losses and an earned run average of 2.10 over 19 games (111⅔ innings). When healthy, he showcased the prowess of a representative pitcher in the league.

Before the 2023 season, NC signed a multi-year contract with Koo Chang-mo worth up to 13.2 billion won for 7 years. However, Koo needed rehabilitation due to a stress fracture injury in his left forearm in 2023 and was excluded from the Hangzhou Asian Games team.

Koo Chang-mo enlisted in the Military after the end of the 2023 season. Last year, he spent most of his time in rehabilitation. Recovering fully from his chronic left arm injury was the priority. After completing rehabilitation, Koo made an appearance in the Futures League at the end of September last year, recording 2 innings in 2 games with 3 hits allowed, 1 walk, 1 Samjin and no runs. This year, he took the mound in the first game of the Futures League with a healthy body, showcasing the form he had when he was in good health.

Lee Ho-jun, the new head coach of NC, mentioned Koo Chang-mo during the New Year’s meeting last January. The coach noted, "I spoke with Koo Chang-mo on January 1, and he said, 'As long as we keep to 5th place, I'll go and make it to 1st for you.'"

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