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The last win was on May 5, 2018…If you add wins, your personal career will be 130 wins.
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Han Nam-jik = Jang Won-joon (37, Doosan Bears)’s ‘victory clock’ stopped on May 5, 2018.
I couldn’t take a step forward from 129 wins in 5 years.
Jang Won-joon, who was on the brink of retirement, got a chance to turn the clock to victory again.
Jang Won-joon will start in the home game against the Samsung Lions, which will be held at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 23rd.
It has been 2 years and 7 months (958 days) since the SK Wyverns match (predecessor of SSG Landers) on October 7, 2020, that Jang Won-jun started in the first team game.
All 32 games in 2021 and 27 games in 2022 were pitched in relief.
This year, Jang Won-joon opened with the Futures (2nd team), and in the 2nd team, he played as a starting pitcher all four times.The 2023 Futures League record is 1 win 1 loss with an average ERA of 3.60.
Since Dylan Pyle and Kwak Bin were left out of the first team due to injuries, Doosan needed an alternative starter, and Doosan coach Lee Seung-yeop decided to give Jang Won-jun a chance to pitch.
Head coach Lee Seung-yeop, who took over as Doosan head coach in October of last year, met with Jang Won-joon.
At the time, Jang Won-jun said, “I want to play more as an active player,” and Lee suggested to the Doosan club that Jang Won-joon’s ‘extension of active duty’.
Director Lee said, “Jang Won-joon is a pitcher who has won 129 wins. A player with this level of experience has no intention of retiring, but not being able to find a team he can play in is a dishonorable retirement.” Let’s jump once,’ he said.
However, no special treatment was given.
Director Lee waited until Jang Won-joon ‘seizes the opportunity to start the first team’.
When a provisional selection was necessary, he gave a chance to a young pitcher first.
Jang Won-joon played 4 to 6 innings each time he pitched in the 2nd group, and was listed on the list of alternative starting candidates.
Jang Won-joon is a left-handed pitcher who dominated the era.
Jang Won-joon, who started his pro career by joining the Lotte Giants in 2004, played as a built-in starter in June of that year.
After the end of the 2014 season, Jang Won-jun, who obtained the qualification as a free agent (FA) for the first time in his life, signed a four-year contract with Doosan for 8.4 billion won.
Jang Won-joon played an active part as Doosan’s native ace for three seasons from 2015 to 2017.
Jang Won-jun played 86 games during this period, posting an average ERA of 3.51 with 41 wins and 27 losses.During this period, the number of wins is 5th, and the average ERA is 3rd.
In the postseason, he recorded 4 wins and an ERA of 2.44 and was called a ‘big game pitcher’.
Doosan won the Korean Series championship in 2015 and 2016 thanks to Jang Won-jun’s performance.Even when he was the runner-up in the Korean Series in 2017, Jang Won-joon shone.
However, Jang Won-joon has suffered from injuries and sluggishness since 2018, and his stay in the 2nd group was longer than in the 1st group.
Jang Won-jun, who had been silently waiting for a chance to pitch for the first team, was given an order to start.
If Jang Won-jun wins from the first team starter in 958 days to victory, he will step on the 130-win high as the 11th in the KBO League and the third among active pitchers (Yang Hyeon-jong 161 wins, Kim Gwang-hyun 152 wins).
If Yang Eui-ji, the best active catcher who returned to Doosan, wears a catcher mask in the match against Samsung on the 23rd, Jang Won-joon will be able to form a battery again with Yang Eui-ji, who received his ball in his heyday.
