Sang-woo Cho

Sang-woo Cho (조상우)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 213 lb.

• High School Daejeon High School, Dongsan High School

• Born September 4, 1994 in Incheon South Korea

BR register page

Biographical Information

Sang-woo Cho has pitched in the Korea Baseball Organization and for the South Korean national team.

Cho's father was a judo competitor while his mother played volleyball. With a fastball hitting 95 mph in high school, he was scouted by some major league teams, but opted to remain in South Korea. The Nexen Heroes took him in the 1st round of the 2013 KBO draft.

He pitched briefly for Nexen in 2013 (4 R in 8 IP), with his fastball now hitting 98 at its peak. He was a solid reliever for the Heroes in 2014 (6-2, 2.47 ERA, 73 K in 69 1/3 IP). He finished second to Min-woo Park in KBO Rookie of the Year voting. He won game 1 of the 2014 Korean Series against the Samsung Lions but gave up a 3-run homer to Yamaico Navarro in the finale.

In 2015, he went 8-5 with 5 saves and a 3.09 ERA in 70 games. He tied Kil-hyun Yoon for 6th in the KBO in appearances. He was on South Korea's team that won the 2015 Premier 12. Being used against strong competition (Japan and twice against the US), he pitched two shutout innings, fanning five (2 H, 2 BB). South Korea won the inaugural Premier 12, with Cho closing out the Gold Medal win over the US.

He had elbow surgery and missed all of 2016. Returning to the field in 2017, he was not as sharp as before (5-3, 4.87). He went 1-2 with 9 saves and a 3.79 ERA in 2018. By 2019, the team had become the Kiwoom Heroes and he was back to being one of their heroes at 2-4, 2.66 with 20 saves. He was 6th in the KBO in saves, between Kyong-chan Moon and Hyung-bum Lee. The Heroes made it to the 2019 Korean Series but fell to the dynastic Doosan Bears.

Cho was back with South Korea for the 2019 Premier 12 in their title defense. He saved Kwang-hyun Kim's win over Canada by retiring all five batters: Eric Wood (K), Michael Saunders (K), Connor Panas, Jordan Lennerton and Tristan Pompey. In the Gold Medal Game, he allowed one run in two innings, when Hideto Asamura drove in Hayato Sakamoto, as South Korea fell 5-3 to Japan. In four games in the event, it was the only run he allowed for a 1.59 ERA. He tied Jae-hoon Ha for 2nd on the team in appearances, one behind Young-ha Lee.

He started 2020 strong (1-0, 7 Sv, 0.79 in 10 G).