Doosan Bears outfielder Choo Jae-hyun has captured the hearts of manager Lee Seung-yeop. Manager Lee said Choo is a talented player who combines both balls and defense in the outfield. Furthermore, Choo displayed excellent diving catch and defense in the first match between blue and white players in the spring camp. Is there a real player in the big 3-2 trade last fall.안전놀이터
Last fall, Doosan gave up key setup man pitcher Jung Cheol-won and infielder Jeon Min-jae and made a big trade decision to bring in outfielders Kim Min-seok and Choo Jae-hyun and pitcher Choi Woo-in. The key players in this trade are interpreted as Jeong and Kim Min-seok. However, Doosan internally gave a high evaluation to Choo's chances of success. His positive assessment continued in the spring camp as well. Manager Lee Seung-yeop also seems to be closely watching Choo in fierce outfield competition.
Choo Jae-hyun, born in 1999, set foot on the professional stage as the 28th overall in the second and third rounds of the Kiwoom Heroes in 2018. Choo Jae-hyun played only one first-team game for Kiwoom and then changed to Lotte's uniform through a trade at the beginning of the 2020 season.
Choo Jae-hyun, who had three hits in 13 games in the 2020 season, played 95 games in the 2021 season with a batting average of 0.252, 66 hits, five homers, 26 RBIs, four steals, 26 walks, and 37 points. Choo Jae-hyun joined the Sangmu Baseball Organization after playing in 33 games in the 2022 season.
Choo Jae-hyun, who returned to the team after being discharged from the military in the middle of the 2024 season, left a regret that he could not even enter a single first-team at-bat due to his team's fellow outfielders such as Yoon Dong-hee and Hwang Sung-bin. Choo Jae-hyun played in 65 games in the Futures League in the 2024 season and recorded a batting average of 0.324, 73 hits, 6 home runs, 36 RBIs, 23 walks, 9 steals, 0.407 on-base percentage and 0.449 slugging percentage.
"It's my first spring camp in Doosan, and I'm having fun training thanks to the good support from the coach, coach, and my teammates," Choo said at Doosan's Blacktown Spring Camp in Australia. "I feel that he needs me, which gives me motivation to be more motivated to participate in the training," he said. "I'm sharing the same room as (Kim) Min-seok, and we depend on each other and are permeating Doosan together. As Min-seok is passionate about baseball, he is my junior, but he is learning a lot. We spend a lot of time looking at each other's swings and giving each other feedback."
"I got to know (Yang) Seok-hwan a lot. I take good care of (Kim) Jae-hwan and (Jeong) Soo-bin in the outfield," Choo said with a smile. "When Kang Hyeon-gu cheered me up, the team atmosphere was alive. I'm not good at things like that because I'm an introvert, but I'm learning a lot from watching Hyun-gu."
Choo put on Lee Seung-yeop's number 36 as his uniform number for the 2025 season. He is not just putting on his uniform number, but keeping in mind Lee's advice from the start of the spring camp.
"The coach told me that it would be nice if the swing continued to be formed in front of me," Choo said. "Since I had to pay attention to that every time I was in batting training, I started to see line drive balls that were stronger in the outfield than in infield line drive balls. I'm so glad that I have a lot more to learn from him because he's from the same left-handed batter," Choo said. "It's an honor and I'm really happy to play with the 36th uniform number when the coach was active. I will continue to make efforts so that I don't feel ashamed to play with that number."
In the first match between Blue and White in the spring camp, Choo also impressed coach Lee Seung-yeop. Choo garnered a diving catch that penetrated the left-center field of Kim Min-seok, who also moved to Doosan, to draw cheers from teammates.
Choo Jae-hyun said, "I think I have strengths not only in offense but also in defense. I will hold the defensive position well and continue to show strong throws," and added, "There are many good players in the outfield, but rather than being conscious of those players, the first thing to do is to show my baseball as much as possible at the given opportunity. I will focus most on the play that I can play well."
The word hustle-doo came out of Choo Jae-hyun's mouth first. As such, Choo Jae-hyun is confident of capturing the hearts of Doosan fans.
"I want to get a chance to continue playing in the game through more on-base hits and hits in the batter's box. Jamsil Stadium is big, so I think it would be more advantageous if I showed stable defense and strong throws," Choo said. "Since I came to the trade, I will definitely show my true value. I will give Doosan fans a play that is worthy of Hustle Doo."