What a sudden misfortune this is. Doosan Bears, who prided themselves on perfect season preparation more than ever, faced a massive blow with their native ace and third starter suffering an injury just one day before the opening. The substitute is Choi Won-jun, who was eliminated from the fifth starter competition, but he must show the performance he had during the 2021 season when he recorded 12 wins until Kwak Bin returns.

A Doosan Bears official reported on the afternoon of the 21st that the announcement of the opening roster for the 2025 Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) League season included the unfortunate news of injury to Kwak Bin, the native ace and a former wins leader.

A Doosan official noted, "Kwak Bin complained of pain in his left side during pitching in the Futures League," adding, "He was diagnosed with a partial injury to the internal oblique muscle after a hospital examination."

Kwak Bin, who was scheduled to start on the 25th against Suwon KT Wiz, faced his final mock test on the 19th against Goyang Heroes in the Futures League. He pitched 5 innings against 18 batters, allowing only 1 hit, recording 6 strikeouts, 3 walks, and no runs on 69 pitches, showcasing his preparedness for the third game after the opening with a top speed of 149 km/h and mixing in curves, sliders, and changeups.

Unfortunately, the injury occurred during that game. He felt pain in his left side while pitching against the Goyang lineup, and a precise medical examination on the 20th revealed a shocking diagnosis of partial damage to the internal oblique muscle. A re-examination is scheduled for early next month, so Kwak Bin is expected to rejoin the team no earlier than mid-April.

Manager Lee Seung-yeob confirmed a 5-starter rotation through the first and second spring camps, consisting of Koh Er-bin, Jack Logg, Kwak Bin, Choi Seung-yong, and Kim Yu-seong. The duo of Koh Er-bin and Jack Logg, regarded as one of the greatest foreign pitcher duos, will serve as the one-two punch, while Kwak Bin, who became the wins leader last year, was positioned as the core of the native rotation. Furthermore, demonstrating tremendous trust in Kwak Bin, he informed him early about the start on the 25th against Suwon KT. Kwak Bin had left a remarkable performance against KT last year, winning 5 games without a loss and an earned run average of 1.51.

However, with the third starter out a day before opening, activating Plan B became inevitable. With the native ace sidelined due to a torn side, a weakening of the starting rotation was also unavoidable. Manager Lee Seung-yeob had planned for Kwak Bin to pitch twice a week against KT on the 25th and the Samsung Lions on the 30th, but now, unexpectedly, two spots in the starting lineup are vacant for next week. Assuming Kwak Bin returns in mid-April, there is a need for a pitcher to fill at least 6 spots in the starting rotation, beginning next week.

Currently, the top alternative is Kim Yu-seong and Choi Won-jun, who was eliminated from the fifth starter competition. Choi Won-jun, who had previously served as the native ace before Kwak Bin, has been expressing strong determination and even paid for an American academy during the offseason, achieving a record of 1 win and no losses with an earned run average of 1.29 in two exhibition games. However, he could not make it to the starting rotation due to fierce competition from Kim Yu-seong. Manager Lee Seung-yeob is considering using Choi Won-jun as a key pitcher instead of Choi Ji-gang, who is training in the second team, but Kwak Bin's absence has greatly increased his chances of returning to the starting role.

The silver lining is that Choi Won-jun was not eliminated from the fifth starter competition due to lack of skill. Despite showing progress from last year by adjusting his arm angle and increasing his velocity, he could not secure the fifth starter spot due to the emergence of stronger competitors. In other words, this means that Choi Won-jun can adequately fill the role as a replacement for Kwak Bin.

Doosan captain and starting catcher Yang Eui-ji expressed a positive outlook during media day, stating, "Although Yu-seong's performance was good, Won-jun was also impressive. The manager must have had a really hard time. I believe Choi Won-jun has enough competitiveness, as he has raised his velocity to 147 km/h."

Meanwhile, along with Choi Won-jun, key pitcher Hong Geon-hee was also diagnosed with damage to the medial ligament in his right elbow, preventing him from joining the opening roster. Hong Geon-hee injured his elbow during pitching training on the 16th, and a re-examination is scheduled for early next month along with Kwak Bin. Doosan is facing challenging times as they struggle to operate at 100% capacity in both starting and relieving teams.

[OSEN]