"Broaden our view and go in a slightly different direction..." Samsung Lions manager Park Jin-man outlined plans for the starting rotation to prepare for the absence of 'ace' Won Tae-in.
Won Tae-in has halted training and is concentrating on recovery after suffering a right elbow flexor muscle injury during spring camp. On the 21st, Won Tae-in moved to the Ejima Bone-setting Clinic in Yokohama for treatment and is scheduled to rejoin the Okinawa camp on the 28th.
There is one month until the regular season opener. It is still unclear whether Won Tae-in will join the opening series. Park Jin-man said, "This is the time when he should be increasing his pitch count, but he can't, so there may be changes. If he comes in a week, he will have to rebuild his body from then, so we need to monitor his condition."
With Won Tae-in injured, Ariel Jurado is competing for Panama in the World Baseball Classic (WBC), so there is a possibility of a gap in the early-season starting rotation. We need to keep as many options open as possible and prepare temporary starters.
Park Jin-man said, "So we are preparing. Broadening our view, moving in a slightly different direction from what we had planned, we are increasing the pitch counts of players who would be used in the bullpen and turning them into starters." One of the candidates for the rotation is rookie Jang Chan-hee.
Jang Chan-hee joined Samsung as the 29th overall pick in the third round of the 2026 rookie draft. Two rookies attended this Samsung spring camp: Jang Chan-hee and first-round pick Lee Ho-beom. If Lee Ho-beom is the type whose power stands out, Jang Chan-hee is evaluated for his repertoire and game-management ability.
Park Jin-man said of Jang Chan-hee, "Given our team's circumstances, he has to be prepared as a starter. During camp, the pitching and his game-management were fine, the pitching staff kept saying so," adding, "He is similar in style to KIA's Seong Young-tak."
Jang Chan-hee is scheduled to pitch in a practice game against the WBC team on the 26th to raise his pitch count. Park said, "We recommended him as a starter, but if a rookie starts against the representative team, he might not be able to show his skills or might overexert himself, so we decided to start Chang-seop first and then use Chan-hee. Chang-seop will go three innings and Chan-hee will go two innings."
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