Twelve players were expunged from first-team rosters on a baseball-free Monday.
The Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) released the rosters for the regular season on Monday afternoon, including the first team.
KT Wiz was the first team to be dropped. On this day, KT Wiz removed five players from its first-team roster, including outfielders Choi Jae-dae, Kim Min-hyuk, and Song Min-seob, as well as pitchers Kim Min and Moon Yong-ik.
The injury to leadoff man Choi Byeong-dae is particularly painful. In the eighth inning of an away game against the LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium the previous day (July 7), he was hit in the left foot by a foul ball he hit. A hospital examination revealed that he had fractured the scaphoid bone, the bone on the inside of the ankle. According to a KT team official, he will spend six weeks rehabilitating.
Kim Min-hyuk wasn’t the only one to be sidelined with an injury. Kim Min-hyuk was diagnosed with right shoulder pain and will need about two weeks of rehabilitation. Kim Min-hyuk also felt discomfort in his right shoulder during the previous day’s away game against LG.
After losing three straight games for the first time this season, Hanwha made a decision. They dropped outfielder Jung Eun-won and pitcher Kim Ki-joong from the first team roster. Jeong Eun-won was considered the Eagles’ future second baseman. In 2021, he played 139 games and hit .283 with six home runs, 39 RBIs, and 19 stolen bases, while drawing 105 walks, ranking second in the league in that category. He followed that up with a .274 batting average, eight home runs, 49 RBIs, and 10 doubles in 140 games in 2022, leading the league in that category while also drawing 85 walks.
In 2023, however, he slumped to a .222 average, 30 RBIs, six doubles, and 62 walks in 122 games. And this season, he hasn’t lived up to expectations, batting .143 (3-for-21) with one double, one triple, one home run, four stolen 먹튀검증 bases, six walks, six strikeouts, a .286 on-base percentage, a .280 slugging percentage, and a .566 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) in nine games.
LG recently removed Woo Kang-hoon, who was acquired via trade, from the first team roster. A graduate of Masongjoong-Yatapgo, Woo was selected by the Lotte Giants in the fifth round of the second round of the 2021 KBO Rookie Draft. Woo, who made his first-team debut last year after completing his military service, has a 27.00 ERA with three strikeouts and one run (one earned) in ⅓ of an inning in two games this season.
Doosan also removed pitchers Park Shin-ji and Choi Jae-in from the first team roster after struggling the previous day, while Kiwoom, which has won seven straight games, dropped pitcher Kim Yeon-ju and outfielder Park Chan-hyuk from the first team roster.