On the mound, he patted our heads the most, patted our butts the most, and guided us well like a baseball senior or older brother…” 짱구카지노
Pitcher Yang Hyun-jong (KIA), who has 168 career wins, expressed his gratitude toward pitching coach Seo Jae-eung, who was notified that his contract could not be renewed.
KIA, which finished 6th in the regular season (73 wins, 69 losses, 2 draws), made changes to its coaching staff. On the 26th, former Doosan coach Jeong Jae-hoon and former Hanwha coach Dong-geol Lee were newly recruited to reinforce the pitching department.
Coach Jae-hoon Jeong began his career as a coach in 2018 and served as the pitching coach for the Doosan Bears until this season. Coach Lee Dong-geol began his leadership career at the Hanwha Eagles in 2021 and served as a pitching coach and pitching performance coach.
Coaches Jae-hoon Jeong and Dong-geol Lee will be in charge of the first team pitching coach and bullpen coach, respectively. Meanwhile, KIA announced its intention not to renew contracts with coaches Seo Jae-eung and Kwak Jeong-cheol.
To Yang Hyun-jong, former coach Seo Jae-eung was a reliable baseball senior, older brother, and teacher. In 2009, as a member of the KIA mound team, he won the Korean Series and continued his career as a coach and player. Is that why? Yang Hyun-jong is bound to feel regretful that he can no longer work with coach Seo Jae-eung.
On the 27th, Yang Hyeon-jong left a message full of his sincerity on his Instagram along with a photo of former coach Seo Jae-eung stroking his head.
He said, “Coach Seo Jae-eung, the nice guy who patted our heads the most on the mound, patted our butts the most, and guided us well like a baseball senior or older brother! I am so grateful and sorry. And Coach Kwak Jeong-cheol, I am also very grateful and sorry. “He said.
Meanwhile, KIA will send a total of five players, including Kwak Do-gyu, Kim Ki-hoon, Kim Hyun-soo, Hong Won-bin (pitcher), and Park Min (infielder), to the Canberra Cavaliers of the Australian professional baseball league ABL. As Geelong Korea’s dispatch to the ABL fell through this year, the club looked for alternatives, and last month, general manager Shim Jae-hak met with Canberra Cavalry owner in person and agreed to send a team.
General Manager Shim Jae-hak said, “We decided on this dispatch to provide real-life opportunities to players who need real-world experience due to military service and players who lack first-team stage experience,” adding, “Our players will lead the way in improving their skills against high-quality foreign players.” “I look forward to it,” he said.
KIA plans to explore various ways to develop players, such as continuously dispatching players to the ABL in the future. The team is scheduled to play from the ABL opening game on the 17th of next month, and will return after playing a total of 40 games until the season ends on January 21st next year.