A returnee has finally emerged from the 'injury ward' of Doosan Bears. The protagonist is 'the man of Seon Dong-yeol,' who played the role of the native ace in the starting lineup until his injury.
The Doosan Bears are preparing for their seventh encounter of the season against KT Wiz in the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Suwon KT Wiz Park on the 27th. This is the first game of a three-game series during the week.
Doosan finished a home three-game series against NC Dinos last weekend with 1 win, 1 draw, and 1 loss. After a rain-cold 9th inning draw on the first day, they lost 1-5 the next day, but salvaged their pride with a 5-3 victory on the final day, avoiding a losing streak. Doosan is in 9th place (21 wins, 3 draws, 28 losses), 2.5 games behind 8th place KIA Tigers, while KT, riding a three-game winning streak, is in 4th place (26 wins, 3 draws, 24 losses). The season head-to-head record between the two teams shows Doosan trailing with 1 win, 1 draw, and 4 losses.
Doosan has announced left-handed rookie Choi Seung-yong as the starting pitcher against KT. Choi's season record is 9 games, 3 wins, 1 loss, with an earned run average of 4.30. During his recent outing on the 15th against Hanwha Eagles, he was forced to leave after 2 innings, allowing 4 hits, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts, and 2 earned runs due to a broken fingernail on his left middle finger. Choi was placed on the injured list the following day and took 11 days to recover, making his return possible on the 12th.
Choi is referred to as Doosan's winning spirit. Although he only has 3 personal wins, Doosan has lost only once in the 9 games he has pitched. This results in a remarkable record of 7 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss. With Choi's good fortune, attention is on whether Doosan can taste back-to-back victories after two weeks since their match against Hanwha on the 14th.
Choi has a good memory of earning victory on March 26 against KT in his first start of the season in Suwon, pitching 5⅓ innings and allowing 2 earned runs. It was a valuable win that broke the team's opening three-game losing streak.
Following Choi's return as a starter, Doosan's 'trade blessing' Hong Geon-hee and 'wins king' Kwak Bin are also making steady progress toward their return to the first team from the Futures League. Hong Geon-hee pitched 1 inning without allowing an earned run against NC Dinos on the 23rd and 25th, while Kwak Bin allowed no earned runs in 1⅓ innings with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts against NC on the 24th. It is expected that bullpen pitcher Hong Geon-hee will be the first to return to the first team ahead of starter Kwak Bin, who requires longer innings.
Meanwhile, KT is deploying its native ace Go Young-pyo. Go's season record is 10 games, 3 wins, 4 losses, with an earned run average of 3.28. In his most recent outing on the 21st against KIA Tigers, he achieved a quality start plus, pitching 7 innings with only 1 earned run, breaking his personal four-game losing streak.
Go was pulled in the first inning after allowing 3 earned runs over 4⅔ innings against Doosan on March 25. Last year, he also struggled against Doosan, going 0-3 in 3 games with an earned run average of 7.20.
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