Pitcher prospects → Nominated Lotte 1R → Batter → Trade → Pitcher…35-year-old veteran left-hander why he was notified of his release

Why did KT Wiz, who suffered a left-hander famine after winning in 2021, notify the 35-year-old veteran left-hander of his release.

KT Wiz of professional baseball officially announced on the 10th, “We have decided not to renew the contract with veteran left-hander Ha Joon-ho.”

When he was a high school student at Kyungnam High School, Ha Joon-ho was nominated by the Lotte Giants as the top two players in the second round of the 2008 rookie draft. Both pitching and hitting talents were so impressive that he could be a batter.

Contrary to expectations, Ha Joon-ho failed to display potential on the mound. He wandered around with 7.30 ERA for one loss and three holds without winning 20 games in 2009, and 24.00 ERA for one loss and one hold without winning five games in 2010. Worse yet, he underwent 꽁머니 surgery after the season ended, and fulfilled his mandatory military service as a social service worker in September 2011.

Ha Joon-ho announced that he would change to a batter after being dismissed from his mandatory military service in 2013, and added an outfielder glove. However, this was also not an easy task. After leaving a batting average of 233 with one homer and 11 RBIs in 31 games in 2014, he moved to KT through a four-to-five major trade in 2015, and had a sluggish performance in 278 games with a batting average of 236, 147 hits and 12 homers and 60 RBIs throughout the four seasons until 2018.

Ha Joon-ho, who failed to establish himself in KT’s outfield, decided to turn himself into a pitcher again in the 2019 season. He played 41 ⅔ in 42 games the following year, following an ERA of 1.13 in eight games, but spent more time in Iksan than in Suwon from 2021.

KT suffered a left-hander famine due to the slow growth of left-hander Cho Hyun-woo’s retirement, Park Se-jin, and Jeon Yong-joo, but left-hander Ha Joon-ho was continuously classified as “out-of-power.” He was also beaten by left-hander Sung Jae-hun, who joined the team through a trial this year.

Ha Joon-ho’s earned run average (ERA) reached 9.00 this year while playing in two games for the first team. He allowed two runs in one inning in the second game of the LG Twins doubleheader in Jamsil on June 23 and two runs in one inning against the Incheon SSG Landers on June 27. And the game on June 27 became Ha Jun-ho’s last game wearing a KT uniform.

Ha Joon-ho’s professional record is 6.56 (79 earned runs in 108 ⅓ innings) with seven losses and nine holds without winning 119 games as a pitcher, and 233 batting average (169 hits in 726 at-bats) with 14 homers, 72 RBIs and 111 runs.

Meanwhile, KT announced the release to four players, including pitchers Park Si-young (2008 Lotte 2nd and 4th round), Ha Joon-ho (2008 Lotte 1st round), Cho Yong-geun (2020 LG Yook Sung player), Park Si-yoon (2018 KT 2nd and 3rd round), Kim Ji-min (2024 KT Yook Sung player), Han Min-woo (2023 KT Yook Sung player), and Yoon Kang-chan (2018 KT 2nd and 5th round), and outfielders Cho Yong-ho (2014 SK Yook Sung player), Choi Jeong-tae (2023 KT Yook Sung player), Kim Kyu-dae (2021 KT 2nd and 10th round), and Hong Hyun-bin (2017 KT 2nd and 3rd round).

Regarding the announcement of the list of players who have been released at a time when the semi-playoff was underway, a KT official said, “We made the announcement as soon as possible in hopes that the players who have been released will find a new team as soon as possible. If you are not a team that participates in the postseason, now is the time to plan for next season.”