Former professional baseball player Cha Woo-chan picked veterans Lee Hyung-jong and Won Jong-hyun as must-be players in the Kiwoom Heroes in the 2025 season.스포츠토토

Cha Woo-chan appeared in a video on YouTube channel "Chit Chit Chit" on the 31st of last month and selected a player who must be good to each team this season. Among them, Kiwoom explained that the revival of pitching veterans Lee Hyung-jong and Won Jong-hyun is urgently needed.

In the video, Cha Woo-chan said, "Of course, young players have to be good, but I think Lee Hyung-jong and Won Jong-hyun (have to be good) who brought them to the FA. Both players had injuries, and Lee Hyung-jong also had poor performance. In this season, the two must establish themselves as fielders and pitching seniors and do well throughout the year. That way, we can buy young players time to grow up."

In fact, Lee Hyung-jong and Won Jong-hyun are external FA resources that Kiwoom, who is rumored not to open their wallets in the market, has ambitiously recruited for the first time in 11 years. Kiwoom recruited Won Jong-hyun, who played a must-win role for the NC Dinos ahead of the 2023 season, for a total of 2.5 billion won for four years, and Lee Hyung-jong, who was losing his position at the LG Twins, for two billion won for four years under the "Futures FA System." Previously, the four-year contract with Lee Taek-geun (retired) in 2011 was the first and last external FA recruitment in the Heroes' history.

However, their performance fell far short of expectations. Won has been on the operating table due to an elbow injury since he recorded 1-1 with 6 holds and an ERA of 5.79 in 20 relief appearances in 2023. He was away through rehabilitation for more than a year, and it wasn't until September last year that he returned to the first team to pitch three ⅔ in four games to end the season.

"Strong hitter" Lee Hyung-jong, who used Jamsil Stadium as his home ground in the past and hit double-digit home runs (13-13-17-10) for four consecutive years (2018-2021), was also disappointing. He played in 99 games in the 2023 season, his first year as a transfer, and was sluggish with a batting average of 0.215 with three home runs, 37 RBIs and an OPS of 0.646. He wanted to announce his revival by continuing his good batting performance early last season, but he suffered a fracture after being hit hard in the foot by his foul ball against the Doosan Bears on April 21st, putting a brake on his rise.

Lee Hyung-jong, who rushed to return to injury, seemed to have not fully recovered his batting sense, hitting only one hit (23 at-bats, 0.043 batting average) in 11 games in July. After adjusting his condition once again in the second division, he took the first division stage again, but ended the 2024 season as he was hampered by an internal oblique injury. In addition to his disappointing performance, most of all, he was left the first team list for a long time and failed to serve as a dugout leader.

Won's annual salary this year is 500 million won (465,800 U.S. dollars), and Lee Hyung-jong is 600 million won (627,800 dollars). He is paid the highest among the two players except for foreign players. Considering that Song Sung-moon, who played a Golden Glove-class role last year, has an annual salary of 300 million won (368,700 dollars), they should at least play a role in taking the lead in pitching and leading younger players.

Fortunately, both players recovered from injuries and started preparing for the season normally. Lee Hyung-jong and Won Jong-hyun participated in the 2025 season spring camp, which began on January 24 in Arizona, USA, and began to be tempered in earnest. If Won Jong-hyun recovers his ball power as in the past, he can play a role in Kiwoom's must-win group, where Cho Sang-woo left. Lee Hyung-jong is also a resource that can add a long shot to the Kiwoom lineup, which was the lowest in the league with 104 team home runs last year.