LG pitcher Choi Dong-hwan (35) of the professional baseball league asked the club to release him to find new opportunities. 토토사이트

LG excluded five new players who had not played in this year's first team from the list of players on hold due to the team's cleanup work, and Choi Dong-hwan was also on the list of players on release. He accepted the player's request and released it freely. 

It is not unusual for veterans who believe that the opportunity to play has been reduced or their position in the team has been narrowed to ask the club to release themselves or find opportunities to transfer to other teams. 

After winning the Korean Series last year, LG's veteran Kim Min-sung did not remain at LG as an FA, but signed with Lotte for more business opportunities. Veteran catcher Lee Jae-won asked SSG to release him last winter and received a new opportunity from Hanwha. 

Nevertheless, the decision to leave LG, which has played 16 years, may not be an easy one. This year, the retirement ceremony for LG Jung Ju-hyun was held in the opening match against the Hanwha Eagles, and his colleagues Choi Dong-hwan, Oh Ji-hwan, and Chae Eun-seong, who joined the team as an FA, gathered to celebrate. Choi gave up the opportunity to retire as a one-club man. 

Choi joined LG as the 13th player in the second round of the 2009 Rookie Draft, and has played for LG for 16 years until this year. His career performance in the first division was 10 wins, 6 losses, 4 saves, 16 holds and an ERA of 5.11. In 2020, he pitched in 54 games (57 innings), recording 4 wins, 1 loss and 4 holds with an ERA of 3.47.

Yeom Kyung-yeop, who took the helm of LG in November 2022, included Choi on the list of U.S. spring camps in February of the following year. Choi was also included in the list of pitchers almost at the end of the list. 

At the time, Yeom said, "Isn't Choi Dong-hwan getting married this time? That's why I brought him to the spring camp for the first team. I even got married, but wouldn't it be a bit awkward to go to the spring camp for the second team?" He added Choi to the camp list in consideration of the situation. 

Choi had a good season in the bullpen last year. The number of registered days for the first team was 167 days, which was almost full-time last year. He pitched 42 ⅓ innings in 45 games, recording one save and one hold with an earned run average of 3.19. He also played as a chasing team. He was included in the entry for the Korean Series, and pitched in one game, allowing one walk and one strikeout in ⅔ innings. He pitched with the bases loaded with one out in the eighth inning, leading 15-2 in Game 4, and finished the inning with a walk-and-out strikeout. 

This season, however, was regrettable. He recorded an ERA of 6.95 with one loss and two holds in 26 games (22 innings). He pitched in nine games (nine ⅔ innings) through April, showing good performance with an ERA of 1.86 with one loss and two holds, but his form deteriorated as he suffered an abdominal muscle injury in mid-April.

He returned to the team in mid-May after rehabilitating for about a month, and posted an ERA of 7.20 in six games (eight hits and four runs in five innings). In June, he pitched in only four games (eight hits and one run in three ⅓ innings) and moved down to the second division in early June. 

Opportunities for the first team gradually declined in the second half of the season. In the second half of the season, Ryu pitched in seven games and showed sluggish performance with 22.50 ERA (four innings of 12 hits, four homers and 10 runs) without losing a game. He was also not included in the postseason entry. LG has a growing number of young pitchers in its bullpen. It has a relatively thick bullpen session. Which team will Choi Dong-hwan, who is seeking a new opportunity, wear next year.