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Sportal Korea] Reporter Shin Hee-jae = The KIA Tigers, the 2024 KBO League winner, will become stronger. Left-hander Ji-min Choi (21) joined the first team. 메이저사이트

Kia has listed Choi Ji-min in its first division entry ahead of a game against the Doosan Bears in the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Wednesday. Choi will fill the vacancy of Kim Seung-hyun, who was removed from the first division the previous day.

KIA, which confirmed its early victory, has started preparing for the Korean Series. Choi Ji-min, who has not played in the first division for a month, will be on standby in the bullpen. Earlier, Choi Ji-min was eliminated from the first division due to a right side injury after allowing no runs in the ⅓ innings against the Lotte Giants on Aug. 22.

After being listed on the injured list for 15 days from Aug. 24, Choi stayed at Futures for 11 days from Sept. 8. Having been sidelined for a while, Choi improved his sense of play through a game between Lotte and Futures on Sept. 17.

Choi Ji-min's return match was not good enough. He only allowed two hits (one homer) and two walks and four runs in ⅓ innings against five batters. He grounded out to second base with two balls to the first batter, Lee Ju-chan, but after giving up a hit to Kim Min-seo, he was attacked on the first pitch by Baekdu Mountain and allowed a two-run shot 110 meters behind the left field.

Choi continued to falter afterwards. He walked So Han-bin and Kim Dong-gyu, causing difficulties in controlling the ball, and eventually retired after replacing Sung Young-tak. As both runners entered the home plate, Choi lost more runs.

Judging from the pitching details on Tuesday, if Kia's confirmation of No. 1 ranking had been delayed, chances were high that Choi Ji-min's call-up would also be delayed. However, Kia has eliminated all of its magic numbers with seven more games to go, creating conditions that allow it to experiment extensively during the regular season.

Choi Ji-min has been a key bullpen player in Kia with six wins, three losses and 12 holds, three saves and an earned run average (ERA) of 2.12 in 58 games last year. This year, however, he significantly lost 52 games with two wins and three losses and 11 holds, three saves and an ERA of 5.27. He struggled throughout this season due to the belated aftermath of his mandatory military campaign to complete all schedules of Geelong Korea, the regular season and the national team last year.

His performance in the regular season was regrettable, but Choi Ji-min is certainly a resource that can be of great help in the Korean Series once he regains his normal condition. Notably, the Samsung Lions and the LG Twins, who are likely to face off against KIA in the Korean Series, are left-handed hitters at the core of their batters, including Kim Ji-chan, Koo Ja-wook, Hong Chang-ki and Moon Bo-kyung, respectively. The more left-handed bullpens there are, the better. It remains to be seen whether Choi, who can overwhelm opponents with fastballs of up to 150 kilometers per hour, will regain his skills last year by taking advantage of precious opportunities during the rest of the season.