Another 1st round pick atrocity…1st outfielder drafted in 17 years says decision to join active duty “hard on myself”
The Doosan Bears’ first-round draft pick will enlist in active duty after failing to spread his wings again.
A Doosan team official met with reporters on the first day of Doosan’s final camp at Bears Park in Icheon on the 31st to announce that first-draft infielder Ahn Jae-seok (21) will be enlisting in active duty.
Ahn recently completed a physical examination and is awaiting a date to enlist in active duty. After a series of poor performances and injuries, including a back injury in the 2023 season, he decided to resolve his military issues first.
Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop said, “I think Ahn Jae-seok is a bit out of shape. He was in the rehabilitation part, but his form is not as good as I thought.”
“This year, he injured his back and it got worse again while exercising. He’s struggling with himself.”
Ahn Jae-seok, from Seoul High School, is the first infielder selected by Doosan in the 2021 rookie draft in 17 years after Kim Jae-ho (2004). He was dubbed the “second Kim Jae-ho” when he joined the team, and was the only rookie to go to the first team’s spring training camp and receive defensive instruction directly from his “role model” Kim Jae-ho. 카지노사이트
He showed promise in his rookie season with a solid showing in camp, batting 2-for-5 with two home runs and 14 RBIs in 96 games in his first year.
However, he suffered from the sophomore jinx that most rookies suffer from last year, and while his batting average soared to 3 for 6 in mid-April, his hitting slump prolonged, starting with a 1 for 8 month in May.
In addition, he made 15 errors in the field amid various trials and errors.
Ahn Jae-seok, who was cut from the first team after the September 2 game against Lotte, finished his second year with a disappointing 2-for-1 with three home runs and 17 RBIs in 99 games.
With the arrival of Lee Seung-yup, Ahn was once again touted as the successor to Kim Jae-ho.
However, he regressed and had one of the toughest seasons of his career.
In early June, he suffered a devastating back injury while running back to first base and underwent a lengthy rehabilitation, and although he returned to the first team in August, he was sent back to Icheon with a monthly batting average of 2 for 1.
Eventually, he was forced to fulfill his defense duties after batting 1 for 8 with one home run and five RBIs in 27 games.
This is not the first time a Doosan first-round pick has been called up to active duty.
In 2019, two years before Ahn Jae-seok, Kim “Whimungo Otani” Dae-hyun was drafted by Doosan in the first round with high expectations, but his career was cut short when he enlisted in active duty instead of as a commodity.
Kim Dae-hyun was drafted by Doosan in 2019 and received a contract worth 350 million won.
Former manager Kim Tae-hyung highly valued Kim as a pitcher at the time of his signing, but he decided to pursue a career as a hitter (outfielder) based on the player’s will. At the time, he was highly touted as the Bears’ next main outfielder to succeed Kim Jae-hwan, Jung Soo-bin, and Park Geon-woo.
But the barriers to the pros were high. He struggled with slumps and elbow ligament damage, eventually heading to the military in August 2020 after a dismal 1-for-15 performance in 19 games with three walks and four runs batted in.
After a year and a half in the organization, he was unable to break through Doosan’s thick outfield and made the difficult decision to enter active duty in the middle of his second year as a pro.
After being discharged in February of last year, Kim showed promise with a 2-for-4 record with four home runs and 11 RBIs in 51 games, but he struggled this year, hitting just 1-for-9 with one home run and seven RBIs in 33 games.
The myth of Doosan’s first-round pick success has come to an end with Kwak-Bin in 2018. Kim Dae-hyun, Lee Ju-yeop, Ahn Jae-seok, Lee Byung-heon, and Choi Jun-ho all failed to crack the egg.