Omg → Farewell to a 21-year career full of glory...842 games + 4th place in Tongsan hold Jin Hae-soo feels sorry for his retired hometown fans

Sep 29, 2025

Jin Hae-soo (right), who celebrated his 800th appearance last year. Sports Chosun DB

Lotte Giants' Jin Hae-soo said goodbye to his professional life for 20 years.

On the 29th, Lotte announced the list of players released (excluding holdouts). Four pitchers, including Jin Hae-soo, recruitment rate Park Young-wan and Bae Se-jong, and fielder Oh Chang-hyun and catcher Baekdu Mountain, will be released respectively.

Among them, the most prominent name is Jin Hae-soo. Lotte, who felt the need to strengthen the left-hander bullpen, recruited him last year as a trade with the rookie's fifth-round pick.

He played 27 ⅔ innings in 54 games last year, recording 2-1 with a 6.18 ERA with five holds. He played his part in the bullpen in his own way, but he fell short of expectations. This year, he did not play a single game in the first team.

Jin has already said goodbye to Lotte's squad. The Futures League game against KT Wiz on the 26th was the last appearance. At that time, Jin Hae-soo took the mound as the second pitcher after Kim Jin-wook, who pitched hard with one run in five innings, and was replaced after one hit, one walk, and one run in one inning. It was the last pitch of my career.

Jin Hae-soo. Sports Chosun DB

Jin Hae-soo, a former Gyeongnam Jung-Boo Yeong-do, has played on the professional stage for 21 years since he joined the KIA Tigers uniform in the second seventh round (50 times overall) in 2005. In the early days of his debut, he wore disgraced nicknames such as 'Jinhae Hydrogen Bomb', but he later opened his eyes after moving to the LG Twins in 2015 after passing through the SK Wyverns. He pitched in up to 76 games and played up to 54 innings a year, playing as an axis of the quasi-pil-winning team. His nickname was also changed to 「Jinhae Capital Guard Commander」.

Jin Hae-soo, who played only 19 games in 2023, vowed to make a fresh start for his hometown team Lotte, but it didn't go well as he wanted, eventually leading to his retirement.

The overall record is 601 innings in 842 games, 25 wins, 31 losses, two saves and 157 holds. In particular, 157 holds are ranked fourth in KBO history after Ahn Ji-man (177), Kim Jin-sung (160), and Kwon Hyuk (159). In the game against KT in June last year, he also reached a milestone of being the fifth pitcher to play in 800 games.

photo courtesy of Lotte Giants

Jin Hae-soo said "I'm sorry that I couldn't be of help to the team after moving to Lotte, and I'm also sorry to the fans." It was a short time, but it was an honor to finish my career on the team that made me dream of becoming a baseball player."

Then "I'll end my career on the team that made me the first start of my baseball career, and start my second life by supporting the Lotte Giants." I sincerely thank the fans for their support so far."

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.