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| Former LG Twins lefty Cha woo-chan / Korea Times file |
Cha Woo-chan, a versatile left-hander with four championship rings and a wealth of international experience, announced his retirement Thursday after 18 years in professional baseball.
The Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said Cha had decided to call it quits at age 36, unable to regain velocity after a bout with shoulder problems.
Cha never pitched for the Giants in the KBO, instead only appearing in one minor league game for them in June this year.
Cha was drafted seventh overall by the Samsung Lions in 2005 and made his KBO debut with the club the following year. He went on to pitch for the Lions until the 2016 season, and won four consecutive Korean Series titles with them from 2011 to 2015.
During his Lions years, Cha evolved into one of the KBO's top swingmen, a pitcher who could work as either a starter or a reliever.
After the 2016 season, Cha signed with the LG Twins as a free agent and won 40 games over the duration of his four-year contract. Cha re-signed for two more seasons before the 2021 season, though a shoulder injury sidelined him for the early portion of that year.
Cha pitched well enough after his return to earn selection to the national team for the Tokyo Olympics that summer, but he underwent a shoulder operation after returning from the Olympics.
After making two minor league appearances for the Twins in 2022, Cha signed with the Giants last offseason. But his attempt to revive a dying career proved futile.
Cha compiled a 112-79 record with one save and 32 holds in 457 appearances, posting a 4.51 ERA across 1,668 2/3 innings. His last KBO game came on July 5, 2021.
Internationally, Cha represented South Korea at the 2013 and 2017 World Baseball Classic, 2014 Asian Games, 2015 and 2019 Premier12 and 2021 Olympics. (Yonhap)
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