A KT Wiz official met at Suwon KT Wiz Park on the 10th said, “We newly recruited left-hander Sung Jae-heon (27) through the entrance test.”
KT dispatched pitching coach Je Chun-mo and battery coach Jang Jae-joong to Seongnam High School in Seoul in late November last year to test Sung’s joining. Seongnam High School is Sung’s alma mater. Sung, who was released from the LG Twins, threw a ball in front of the two coaches to extend his active career, and was notified of his acceptance. 안전 토토사이트
A KT source said, “I have a stable mechanism and a good sense of breaking ball. I have a ball that can pitch regardless of the type of batter,” giving high marks to Sung’s ability.
Sung Jae-hun, born in 1997, left Seongnam High School and Yonsei University and was drafted 73rd in the LG’s second 8th round in the 2020 rookie draft. With his strength in slow speed and sophisticated ball control, he was called “Seongnam High School Yoo Hee-kwan” when he was an amateur, and even after joining the professional league, he prepared to start in the Futures League step by step, drawing the attention of then-coach Ryu Joong-il. Sung Jae-hun was called up to the first division in his first year of debut and left a 4.15 ERA (two earned runs in four ⅓) without losing or losing four games as a bullpen.
However, that was the last time Sung played in the first division. When his enlistment was decided on Sept. 10, 2020, he fulfilled his military duty as a social worker, and after his discharge from the team, he couldn’t get a chance while playing in the Futures League. The Futures League record was also poor with a 6.75 ERA in two games in 2022 and three wins, three losses and 6.13 ERA in 17 games in 2023. Sung eventually became an independent after being informed by LG that he would not renew his contract in November last year.
Among the 10 KT teams, left-handedness is the most serious. In the 12-man pitcher roster of the Korea Series against LG last year, foreign Wes Benjamin was the only left-handed pitcher. It contrasted clearly with LG, which has four left-handed pitchers including Ham Deok-joo, Kim Yoon-sik, Son Joo-young and Lee Woo-chan. Manager Lee Kang-chul once said, “I wish LG gave us one left-handed pitcher who is not using him. We desperately need one left-handed pitcher. We need to make or find a left-handed bullpen pitcher next year.”
However, KT did not strengthen its left-handed bullpen pitcher lineup in the latest stove league. Ham Deok-joo, who had four rings on the FA market, did not engage in negotiations and drafted right-handed pitchers Woo Kyu-min and Lee Tae-kyu and infielder Kim Chul-ho in the second round of the draft. Rather, Cho Hyun-woo, a left-handed pitcher who had long been waiting for his retirement, lost his capacity as a left-handed pitcher.
KT originally tried to find left-handed pitchers through internal development such as Park Se-jin, Jeon Yong-joo, and Kim Gun-woong, but Sung Jae-heon, who has stable control, came out just in time to reinforce the depth.
KT also recruited Cho Yong-geun, a 28-year-old right-handed pitcher, through tryouts. Cho joined LG in 2020 after graduating from Gongju-Jungang University, and fulfilled his mandatory military service after being released by LG in October 2021. He has no record of playing in the first division, and posted an ERA of 5.75 with three wins, one loss, six saves and five holds in 41 games in the Futures League.
A KT source said, “We have a stable mechanism in general, and we have good ball control. Fastball speed and slider movement are fine,” explaining why Cho Yong-geun was accepted.
