Kiwoom Heroes’ choice was a promising pitcher. Kiwoom, who sent Han Hyun-hee (Lotte Giants), embraced Lee Kang-jun.
On the afternoon of the 20th, Kiwoom announced through a press release, “We have nominated pitching prospect Lee Kang-joon as a compensation player for Han Hyun-hee, who obtained free agent (FA) status and transferred to Lotte.” The nomination for the compensation player was made three days after Han Hyun-hee’s move to Lotte was confirmed.
Koh Hyeong-wook, general manager of Kiwoom, said about this background, “Although he is a player who does not have much experience, he has great power at the end of the ball and has excellent movement. I highly evaluated the potential for future growth, so I chose (Lee Kang-jun) without hesitation.”
Talent seen by legends, Lee Kang-joon moving the team again Kang-joon Lee, a
right-handed sidearm pitcher, graduated from Seorak Middle School and Seorak High School and was nominated by kt Wiz in the 2nd, 3rd round (22nd overall) of the 2020 rookie draft. Since high school, he has received the attention of scouts as a submarine pitcher with excellent potential, and coach Lee Kang-cheol, who was the best submarine pitcher in the KBO League in the past, also expected Lee Kang-joon to grow.
In 2020, the first year of his debut, he only appeared in 4 games (5⅔ innings average ERA of 6.35) in the first team, and in the Futures League, he recorded an ERA of 5.59 with 22 games, 29 innings, 1 win, 1 loss, 3 holds and 1 save. While his ability to catch more than 1 strikeout per inning is excellent, Lee Kang-jun had to solve the not insignificant number of balls (29).
The following year, the team moved midway through the season. On July 31, the trade deadline, as Lotte and kt carried out a 2:1 trade, Lee Kang-joon went to Lotte. Lotte handed over infielder Oh Yoon-seok and catcher Kim Jun-tae to kt. At the time, Lotte explained the background of recruiting Lee Kang-joon, saying, “It showed a more stable appearance than the previous year and raised expectations.”
Even after his transfer, there were still not many opportunities to pitch. The regular season performance in 2021, including the performance at kt, was an average ERA of 10.80 in 15 games, 8⅓ innings, 1 win, and last year, an average ERA of 10.24 in 13 games, 9⅔ innings and 1 hold. Uneasy control was the biggest problem.
Lee Kang-joon planned to leave for a while after last season. He submitted an application to the Sangmu Baseball Team (Army Sports Corps) and enlists on May 8th after receiving a final notification of acceptance. However, prior to his military enlistment, he had to change his team once again. 메이저놀이터
Kang-jun Lee, the first free agent reward player in the history of Kiwoom club
, Kiwoom had sent away key players such as Son Seung-rak, Yuhan-jun, Jung Sung-hoon, and Park Byung-ho to FA in the past. At the same time, he did not designate a reward player and only received cash (compensation money), but this time it was different. He was named the first free agency compensator in club history.
As much as he has to solve the military enlistment issue, he cannot be seen as an immediate addition to the team. From the team’s point of view, Lee Kang-jun was nominated with a view to the future rather than the present. Also, as Lee Kang-jun is not guaranteed a spot, he must survive the competition with the existing pitchers even after the military issue is resolved. There are several submarine pitchers in the team, including Yang Hyun and Kim Dong-hyuk.
It is expected that he will be guided by the team’s coaching staff until he enlists in the military, including bullpen coach Ma Jung-keel, who has newly joined the team ahead of this season. If you grow by constantly accumulating experience in business, you can make up for the regrets you have had so far.
I heard that Lee Kang-jun was nominated as a compensation player abroad. He left for Guam with several Lotte players on the morning of the 20th to improve his physical condition before the spring camp, which starts on February 1st. Attention is focusing on whether Lee Kang-joon, who is starting anew on the third team following kt and Lotte, will meet Kiwoom’s expectations.