Doosan has lost another player to injury, following Kim Min-seok. In contrast, Lotte's Jeon Min-jae has recorded the league's only batting average above .400, standing tall as the top hitter. The winner of the 2-for-3 massive trade has changed once again.

Doosan Bears outfielder Choo Jae-hyun was excluded from the first-team roster ahead of the third game of the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League season against the LG Twins on the 13th at Seoul's Jamsil Stadium, along with pitchers Kim Yoo-sung and Lee Byung-hun.

The reason for his exclusion was injury. Choo Jae-hyun sustained a back injury while playing defense in his first game as the cleanup hitter on the 12th against LG at Jamsil. Manager Lee Seung-yeop noted, "Choo Jae-hyun felt pain in his back while making a diving catch. A hospital examination is scheduled for the 14th. He is originally a player with a back injury, but it seems he received a strong shock while diving. We will need to check his condition after the examination."

Choo Jae-hyun, the MVP of the first spring camp in Australia, experienced the pain of an early return after suffering a sternum bruise during the practice game of the second spring camp. After recovering and boasting a batting average above .400 in the Futures League, he returned on March 30, but again faced an unexpected injury, leaving him with a batting average of .243 with 1 home run and 3 RBIs over 11 games, and he became a member of the second team again after two weeks.

Doosan agreed to a blockbuster 2-for-3 trade last November with the Lotte Giants, sending pitchers Jung Cheol-won and Jeon Min-jae in exchange for outfielder Kim Min-seok, Choo Jae-hyun, and pitcher Choi Woo-in.

The trade was first proposed by Lotte, which wanted Jung Cheol-won. Ironically, the team that first benefited from the trade was Doosan. Choo Jae-hyun, who received a one-point lesson from Manager Lee Seung-yeop, won the MVP of the first spring camp, and Kim Min-seok claimed the MVP of the second spring camp, then secured the leadoff spot that was once held by veteran jung Soo-bin. A player who had been in the second team last year made it to the opening day leadoff spot for Doosan.

However, Kim Min-seok's rise was short-lived. He had made 2 hits and 2 RBIs from 4 at-bats in the opening game against the SSG Landers, including a triple, and continued his hitting streak with hits in four consecutive games until the game against KT Wiz in Suwon on March 26. However, from the second at-bat that day, a ground ball to second base marked the beginning of a sharp decline in his batting performance. Falling into an inexplicable slump, he went silent with no hits in 15 at-bats until the game against the Kiwoom Heroes on April 2. He was then informed of his demotion to the second team on the 3rd.

Doosan's Manager Lee Seung-yeop explained at the time, "(Kim Min-seok) is not in a condition to play in the first team right now. He was very good during the camp and at the opening game, but it feels like his plate discipline has collapsed. His balance has completely fallen apart, and we judged that it would be better for him to practice and find his strengths and weaknesses in the second team rather than play in the first team."

Lotte's start was weak. Both Jung Cheol-won and Jeon Min-jae failed to make the same impact as Choo Jae-hyun and Kim Min-seok in the spring camp. Jung Cheol-won held down Lotte's bullpen until early April, but faltered in back-to-back games, allowing 3 runs in 1 inning against Doosan on the 6th and giving up 2 runs in 1/3 inning against the KIA Tigers on the 8th. Jung Cheol-won's season record is 11 games without a win, with 1 loss and 7 holds, and he currently leads the holds category.

Utility infielder Jeon Min-jae is bringing smiles to Lotte with his unexpected performance. Jeon Min-jae was initially assessed as a player brought in to strengthen defense, but he has batted .400 with 20 hits in 50 at-bats, scoring 7 runs and driving in 4 RBIs, boasting a slugging percentage of .500 and an on-base percentage of .444, earning him the top spot in the batting department. He is the only player in the league with a batting average above .400. He has recorded hits in 9 consecutive games, and his batting average in April stands at .486.

Jeon Min-jae joined Doosan in 2018 and was just a backup player with only 177 appearances over 7 seasons until last year. He finally made a name for himself last year, but his total batting average was only .246 in 100 games. An unexpected player has emerged as the main chip in the blockbuster trade.

[OSEN]