Japanese media "Spotiva" posted an article titled "Why did a promising Korean professional baseball player participate in the Japanese Winter League alone without an interpreter?" Park Chi-guk (27, Doosan Bears) is a promising player that "Spotiva" paid attention to. Park Chi-guk joined the ongoing Winter League in Okinawa, Japan in early December.스포츠토토

Japan's Okinawa Winter League is a stage where individual players can join and play as a team, not a team. "143 players from 14 countries and regions joined," Sportiva said. "There were players from Seibu Lions, Rakuten Golden Eagles, Yokohama DeNA BayStars, or Taiwan Tung Lions, Zhongxin Lions, and the Chinese national team that sent 26 players to prepare for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in March 2025."

Park Chi-guk is the only Korean in the world. "He joined Doosan in the second round of the rookie draft in 2017 and is a 26-year-old ironclad pitcher who played more than 60 games in eight seasons in the Korean professional baseball league," the media said.

Park Chi-guk left for Okinawa, Japan, to establish his pitching form. Park has been agonizing over throwing arm angles this season. Park pitched in 52 games this season, recording two wins, three losses and one save with an ERA of 6.38. He played as a key bullpen pitcher for more than 60 games from 2018 to 2020, but slowed down for the next two years. He seemed to revive with five wins, three losses and two saves with an ERA of 3.59 in 62 games in 2023, but suffered again last year.

There was a concern about pitching form in it. In order to take advantage of the strength of a side-arm pitcher who throws 150km, the arm angle must be raised a little. On the other hand, when the arm angle goes down, the movement of the ball is clearly revived.

Park Chi-guk said, "I couldn't give up my restriction. There is pressure to hold the batter firmly on the mound, and I thought it could be a strength." However, he threw the ball at the end of September with his arm angle down, and his movement was effective.

Park has decided to pull down his sleeves for the upcoming season. The Okinawa Winter League was meant to secure conviction. "I will try to make the best of myself in the end," Park said ahead of his departure. "I will try to see how well I can connect while playing in real games in Japan."

In an interview with "Spotiva," Park Chi-guk answered "yes" to the question of whether he came for the arm angle problem. The media added, "I came to Okinawa's winter league because I had a clear purpose."

He returned the rest by spending his own money. When asked about the level of the Okinawa Winter League, Park said, "I came to pitch. I was able to achieve my goal." Asked if he was 100 percent, Park said, "The remaining 10 percent wanted to test the breaking ball more."