He was perfect until the fifth inning with two outs. He pitched six scoreless innings of perfect defense, but he was still disappointed.
Choi Won-tae, who was traded from Kiwoom to LG and took the mound at Jamsil Stadium in a pinstriped uniform, pitched six innings of two-hit ball with five strikeouts and no walks against Jamsil rival Doosan on the 30th.
It was an important win. LG traded Choi to shore up its homegrown starting pitching weakness in the final puzzle to win the Korean Series. They got two pitching prospects and a 2024 first-round draft pick for him. A win-win.
In his first start since the trade, Choi lived up to LG’s investment. He pitched a perfect game to secure the victory, and his name rang out in Jamsil Stadium.
Not only that, but Choi also pitched brilliantly against Doosan, a team that has been unusually weak. Choi Won-tae had won against Doosan in Jamsil on July 30, 2020, and had lost five straight games against Doosan before that game. It was his first win against Doosan in exactly three years. In an LG uniform.
Doosan, who had lost four straight after an 11-game winning streak, came out firing on all cylinders to end the losing streak. Choi retired three batters in the first inning on seven pitches and retired 14 straight batters until the second out of the fifth inning. The perfect pitch was broken by a single by Kang Seung-ho with two outs in the fifth. In the top of the sixth inning, he gave up a double to Kim Tae-geun in left field.
After the game, Choi Won-tae thanked his seniors for taking care of him after the trade, and thanked his younger teammates for their hitting in the game.
“Coach Yoon said it was okay to give up three or four runs, so I thought I should give up three or four runs,” Choi said. I threw strikes while thinking about that when I was in an unfavorable count, and I think it paid off.”
Heo Do-hwan, who formed a battery with him, let Choi Won-tae do whatever he wanted. “He told me to throw as I wanted today,” Choi said. I really threw as I wanted, and when it mattered, I threw according to Do-hwan’s sign,” he said.
Despite his perfect LG debut, Choi Won-tae also mentioned that he had some bad pitches. He lamented his low strike rate on his first pitch. 스포츠토토
“In the first inning, I threw strikes to all three batters, but after that, my strike rate was low. It was unfortunate because I value first-pitch strikes, and there were many situations where the count was unfavorable.”
Won-tae Choi faced 20 batters and threw 12 strikes and eight balls for strikes. His first-pitch strike rate was 60 percent. On the day, Choi threw 75 pitches, 51 strikes and 24 balls for a 68% strike rate.
“I didn’t pitch two games before this, so I pitched well today,” Choi said. LG is the league’s top hitting team. Their infield and outfield defense are also rated as top-notch, and the spacious Jamsil Stadium is an advantage for pitchers.
“We can win six or seven games in the second half,” Yeom said, referring to Choi Won-tae’s changed circumstances.