Left-handed pitcher Cha Woo-chan (36, Lotte Giants), who dominated an era in the professional baseball KBO league, finally takes off his uniform.메이저놀이터
On the 17th, the Lotte team announced, “Cha Woo-chan has decided to retire.” “I thought that this year would be the last, and I prepared hard from spring camp to the middle of the season, but my physical condition and condition did not keep up, so I decided to retire.”
Cha Woo-chan, who graduated from Gunsan Namjung-Gunsan Commercial High School, jumped into the professional stage after being nominated with the 7th overall pick in the 2nd round of the 2nd round by the Samsung Lions in the 2006 rookie draft. A left-handed pitcher who enjoyed a great era… His control was a weakness in the early days of his debut due to a
shoulder injury , but he made up for it by working as a reliever for three years.
Then, in 2010, he went 10-2 with an earned run average of 2.14, and started to become a starting pitcher for Samsung in earnest, bursting into his potential.
At this time, Cha Woo-chan, who even lifted the championship trophy as a member of the ‘Samsung Dynasty’, obtained the qualification as a free agent (FA) after the 2016 season, and hit the jackpot while wearing the LG Twins uniform under the condition of 9.5 billion won for 4 years.
Cha Woo-chan, who led the LG mound and achieved double-digit multipliers for three consecutive seasons and showed an activity worthy of the ransom, succeeded in signing a second free agent contract with LG ahead of the 2021 season on the condition of a total of 2 billion won for two years.
Cha Woo-chan, who had been unable to stand on the mound for a while due to a shoulder injury, made a difficult return in June 2021 and showed above-average pitching.
However, participating in the Olympics became a ‘poison’ on his shoulders. He underwent surgery in September 2021 after being injured again, and was released from LG after completing rehabilitation.
Upholding the national team… a brilliant 16-year struggle
Although he achieved a lot as a baseball player, Cha Woo-chan did not choose to retire. Ahead of this season, he signed his contract and tried to make a last comeback while enduring a low price of 50 million won in annual salary with Lotte.
However, due to the aftermath of the injury, his pitch was seldom recovered, and in the end, he never made it to the first team and put an end to his 16-year professional life. It was the last official match.
Cha Woo-chan, whose main weapon was a heavy fastball and a sharp slider, recorded a total of 112 wins, 79 losses, 1 save and 32 holds in the first team stage. He had a 4.51 earned run average in 1668.2 innings.
In addition, as a national representative, he participated in the 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC), 2014 Incheon Asian Games, 2015 Premier 12, 2017 WBC, 2019 Premier 12, 2021 Tokyo Olympics, etc., and spent a colorful baseball life.