Shin Jung-rak (37) of the Lotte Giants is on the verge of retirement. After failing to play in the first division game for the first time since his debut this year, he went through an ordeal of being notified of his release.
According to the current status of player movement on the KBO website, Lotte requested waivers for pitcher Shin Jung-rak on Tuesday. Shin can transfer if he is nominated by another team within one week. After that, he will become a free agent.
Shin Jung-rak, who joined the LG Twins as the first overall pick in the first round of the 2010 KBO League Rookie Draft, is a veteran pitcher who recorded 27 wins, 26 losses, 11 saves and an earned run average of 5.25 in 347 games in his professional career. He played for LG, Hanwha Eagles, and Lotte.
Shin Jung-rak had the opportunity to play at least one game every year except in 2015 and 2016, when he was called up as a social service worker until last year. He had a career-high in 2013 with 9 wins, 5 losses and a 4.26 ERA, and in 2017, he played as an all-weather bullpen with 3 wins, 5 losses, 12 holds, 10 saves and a 5.34 ERA.
Shin consistently gained opportunities in his new team after being traded for Song Eun-bum of the Hanwha Eagles in July 2019. He played in 101 games during the three-and-a-half years from the second half of 2019 to 2022. However, he faced a crisis after being notified by Hanwha that he could not renew his contract at the end of the 2022 season.
Fortunately, he quickly managed to find his team. Ahead of the 2023 season, Lotte actively recruited pitchers from other teams, including Kim Sang-soo, Cha Woo-chan and Yoon Myung-jun, and Shin Jung-rak was also spotted on the radar. “We decided to recruit Shin Jung-rak as we thought he could be useful to the club as a sidearm pitcher,” a Lotte official said.
Shin met his expectations in the first season. He pitched in 34 games in 2023, displaying four wins and one hold with an ERA of 4.66. However, this year was the first time Kim Tae-hyung has been appointed as a manager in the Korean pro team since his debut. Lotte did not give Shin a chance by appointing Han Hyun-hee (4 wins, two losses and eight holds with an ERA of 5.17) as an underdog.
Shin lost three games and posted an earned run average of 2.18 with six holds in 18 games at Futures this season 먹튀검증. He had no record of taking the mound for more than two months since the game against KT on June 29, but played in three games in September. Shin, who allowed three hits, one walk, one strikeout and two runs (no earned run) in one ⅓ inning against the Doosan Bears on September 10, ended his two-year career at Lotte by receiving his second career release notice 10 days later.