“It’s a pity that I couldn’t finish properly and came out.”

Woo-chan Cha (36), the “112-win pitcher” who dreamed of making a comeback with the Lotte Giants, will take off his uniform and retire. 메이저놀이터

Lotte announced on the 17th, “Cha Woo-chan announced his intention to retire. Accordingly, we requested the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) to terminate the contract arbitrarily.” 

After being released from the LG Twins last year, Cha Woo-chan worked with the determination to be his last at Lotte, but eventually took off his uniform due to an injury. In an interview with this magazine on the 17th, he said, “I worked hard, but the recovery period did not decrease after throwing the ball. I had no choice but to announce his retirement.” 

Cha Woo-chan was a pitcher with excellent durability. He played only as a starter, and he pitched over 150 innings each season from 2015 to 2019. However, since 2020, injuries have been hampered. After the end of the first half of 2020, which belonged to LG, the season was out due to shoulder pain. Later, during his rehabilitation, the pain recurred, and the training phase often returned to the starting point. 

Cha Woo-chan returned in early May 2021 and showed off his health by recording 5 wins and 5 losses in three months. He was also selected for the baseball team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Then he groaned again from his injuries. In September 2021, he underwent surgery in the US after being diagnosed with a torn supraspinatus muscle in his left shoulder and joint and labrum damage. As Cha Woo-chan’s rehabilitation lengthened, LG decided to release him at the end of 2022. 

Lotte held out his hand to Cha Woo-chan. In recognition of his experience and sincerity. Cha Woo-chan, who once recorded the highest amount of free agency for a pitcher, signed a contract for an annual salary of 50 million won (excluding incentives). Aside from money, he only wanted to “be on the mound again.” 

In mid-January, I left for Guam, where the first spring camp was held, and sweated. On June 10, he took the mound against SSG Landers in the Futures (2nd division) league held at Sangdong Stadium and recorded 1 hit, 1 hit, 2 strikeouts in 1 inning. 13 pitches in total. His fastball top speed was 134 km/h. This is Cha Woo-chan’s last official appearance in the KBO League. 

Cha Woo-chan said, “It took me three weeks to recover after starting on June 10. It took me a lot of time to catch the ball again and build my body.” said. 

He has no regrets or regrets as he has had a hard time with an injury for about 3 years. Cha Woo-chan said, “It’s unfortunate that I put down the baseball because it hurts, but I can’t help it. Because I’m sick, there’s nothing more I can do.” He continued, “Lotte was very considerate and created a good environment, so I was able to rehabilitate without regret. I am really grateful to Seong Min-gyu and the coaching staff.”Cha Woo-chan, who joined Samsung in 2006 with the 7th pick in the 2nd round of the 1st round, was an all-weather pitcher. He played an active part in the start, middle, and finish of the Samsung Lions and the national team. He went 112-79 with a 4.51 earned run average in 32 holds. He won the winning percentage and strikeout titles once each, and went to the national team several times, including the World Baseball Classic (WBC), Olympics, Asian Games, and Premier 12. 

He cited winning the 2011 Korean Series as the most memorable moment. Cha Woo-chan recalled, “At that time, I pitched in one game each as a starter and middle pitcher in the Korean Series. I was really happy to win my first championship while playing baseball. Since then, Samsung has won the Korean Series for 4 consecutive years and the regular season for 5 consecutive years.” did. 

Cha Woo-chan said, “It’s just a pity that I quit after not throwing the last three years properly.” “I said, but I couldn’t keep that promise and I couldn’t finish it properly,” he said.