Kyu-je Cho

Kyu-je Cho (조규제) (Jeonju Express)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 8", Weight 158 lb.

• School Yonsei University
• High School Gunsan Sangil High School

• Born October 7, 1967 in Gunsan South Korea

BR register page

Biographical Information

Kyu-je Cho won three titles and a Rookie of the Year in his 15 year KBO career.

Cho represented South Korea in the 1989 Asian Championship, when they tied for first. The Ssangbangwool Raiders selected him in the first round of the 1991 KBO draft, and he soon became their closer. He notched 27 saves with a 9-7 record and a 1.64 ERA in 49 appearances in 1991, and he was named the Rookie of the Year. He led the league in saves, ranking 2nd in ERA (.009 behind Dong-yol Sun), 2nd in appearances (tied with Myung-won Chung) and 5th in strikeouts (between Dong-hyi Pak and Yong-soo Kim). Cho's ERA rose to 3.17 in 30 games in 1992, and he only got 8 saves.

The Gunsan native bounced back soon in 1993, and he collected 23 saves with a solid 1.42 ERA in 41 appearances. He was 3rd in saves (tied with Gyeong-won Kim) and 5th in appearances (between Bong-soo Kang and Yu-seok Song). He then notched 24 saves with a 2.39 ERA in 44 games in 1994, and he was 4th in saves (between Yong-soo Kim and Dae-Sung Koo). However, Cho suffered from a neck injury, and he only pitched 8 games in 1995. He returned in 1996, and he recorded a 1.81 ERA in 48 games with 20 saves. He then had 28 saves with a 2.90 ERA in 52 games in 1997, and he was 2nd in saves (tied with Chung). The Raiders then traded Cho to the Hyundai Unicorns for Jung-hyun Park, Nae-young Ga and 300 million won.

Cho was turned into a starter in 1999, but he struggled as he only went 6-2 with a 5.95 ERA. He suffered from the same neck injury again in 2000, and he only had 9 appearances. The Unicorns then traded him to the SK Wyverns for Woong-cheon Cho and 1.5 billion won. Cho returned to bullpen in the middle of the 2001 season, and he notched 9 saves with a 3.55 ERA in 46 games. He then went 6-8 with a 4.23 ERA and 6 saves in 2002, and he became just the third KBO pitcher to collect 150 career saves on August 16. The Tigers selected him as the compensation of free agent Kyung-wan Park, and Cho's ERA was 5.36 in 36 games. He was on Korea's roster for the 2003 Asian Championship, winning Bronze.

The Kia Tigers then signed him, and Cho collected 5 holds with a 2.14 ERA in 38 games in 2004. However, he surrendered 4 runs in an inning in 2005, then he announced his retirement. He was the pitching coach of the minor league team of the Unicorns from 2006 to 2007, and he moved to the Woori Heroes in the same position from 2008 to 2010. He was the bullpen coach of the Tigers from 2011 to 2012, and he became their pitching coach in 2013. Cho moved to the LG Twins in 2014 as their minor league pitching coach, and he was the pitching coach for the Samsung Lions minor league team from 2016 to 2021.

Overall, Cho was 54-64 with a 3.07 ERA, collected 153 saves in 508 appearances and struck out 838 in 894 1/3 innings in 15 years in the KBO.

Sources

• Namu Wiki
• Korean Wikipedia