Joo Hyun-sang, 32, joined the “billionaire salary club” last year.

After earning 58 million won in 2023, he signed for 110 million won, a 52 million won increase.

When he joined Hanwha in the seventh round of the 2015 second round (64th overall), he was an infielder. He appeared in 103 games and had 246 at-bats.

However, his opportunities dwindled the following year, as he only played in 15 games.

After completing his military service as a social service worker, he took on a new challenge. Instead of batting, he took to the mound.

He started pitching in 2021 and settled in successfully, winning two games in his first year.

Last year, he began to blossom as a pitcher. 토토사이트 He appeared in 55 games and threw 59⅔ innings, going 2-2 with a 1.96 ERA in 12 appearances.

On March 23, Joo traveled to Melbourne, Australia, Hanwha’s spring training camp.

His departure was a bit earlier than the other players, which made his responsibilities this season even greater. Hanwha manager Choi Won-ho also mentioned Joo Hyun-hyun as a must-win before the team’s departure and expected him to perform well.

“I signed a contract a few days before I left for the camp, and I was proud as a family man. My wife is satisfied, and I’m proud that I can give my child some evidence that his dad has been working hard in his field. It felt really good, and it made me think a lot about how I should help the team in the future,” he said.

Last year’s performance was also meaningful to Joo himself, who said, “I never thought I could have an ERA in the 1s. I even had an ERA in the 7s and 8s at the beginning of last year, and I even went down to the second team. But I didn’t give up and worked hard to get back to the first team, and at the end of the season, I had a good performance. In that sense, I think last season will be a milestone season for me. I’m going to try to surpass last year’s season, and I’m going to try to do better not only this season, but next year and the year after. Of course, I know it’s not going to be easy. But I just try to think positively that it will be better and better,” he said.

His success as a pitcher has allowed him to dream about the future:

“Honestly, I had a lot of opportunities as a rookie, but in my second year, my first-team appearances decreased significantly, so I was more worried about whether I could play more baseball than about my salary. I was doing public service and watching the team play fall baseball, and I wanted to play baseball so much.” “I really wanted to play baseball more, so I switched to pitching with the minimum salary, and I’m proud to say that after three years in the first team, I have a salary of 100 million won and an ERA in the low 1s. The biggest difference and the best thing is that I was able to play baseball with only one eye on the future, whereas before I was training thinking about how I could do better.”

He continued, “After I switched to pitching after my public service, I once trained with rookies in Seosan as a military athlete. I was 29 years old at the time, but when I trained with 19-year-olds, it was difficult. Even though there was a big age difference, I thought that I would not lose to them, so I trained with the idea that I would not lose to the top, whether I was running or training. In fact, I didn’t lose to them. I was desperate to play baseball, and I think the hard work I put in at that time without taking my eyes off the ball is helping me now.”

Joo Hyun-sang’s 100 million won salary was a big milestone for the junior as well.

“I started pitching at a really late age,” he said, “and the younger players on my team have a lot more baseball days ahead of them than I do. I don’t think their skills are inferior to mine. I’ve been through both the developmental and Futures teams, and I hope the younger players don’t give up even if they’re in the Futures or developmental teams now. If you don’t give up now, 안전한 파워볼사이트 you will definitely make it to the first team, and you will get a chance through the losing group and the chasing group. I’ve been in the losing group and the chasing group, and I’ve been able to play in winning matches, so I’m going to keep competing to make sure I don’t lose this spot.”

“Every year since I switched to pitching, I’ve had to go down and up Seosan once or twice because I didn’t perform well in the middle of the year. This year, I need to do well from the beginning. In order to increase my games and innings, I need to stay in the first team full-time without going down to Seosan, and in order to stay in the first team full-time, I need to be injury-free, and I need to be consistent in my performance. I need to prepare well in camp now so I don’t get sick and I can exceed the goals I set for myself. This year, I want to gain more confidence and play more games and innings, especially if the team wins more games, and I want to be a part of those winning games.”