Woo-jin An

Woo-jin An (안우진)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 198 lb.
• High School Whimoon High School

• Born August 30, 1999 in Seoul South Korea

BR register page

Biographical Information

Woo-jin An pitched in the KBO and set several records.

An was a star in high school, and he set the Korean record when his fastball reached 156km/h (97mph) in 2017. The Nexen Heroes drafted him in the first round of the 2018 KBO draft, and he earned a 600-million South Korean won signing bonus, the highest in the Heroes' history. However, An was involved in a school bullying scandal after he was drafted, and the South Korea national baseball team banned him for life. He was also suspended by the KBO for 50 games.

The Seoul native debuted in 2018 after the suspension, but he had a terrible 7.19 ERA in 41 appearances. He struggled again as his ERA was 5.20 in 15 starts in 2019, then the Heroes moved him from the rotation. The talented righty bounced back as a reliever in 2020, and he had a 3.00 ERA in 42 relief outings. He came back to the rotation in 2021, and he pitched well as his ERA was solid 3.26 in 21 starts despite being banned for 36 games due to a Covid-19 rule violation. In the first round of the KBO playoffs, An struck out 9 with only 2 runs allowed in 6 1/3 innings, and outdueled Been Gwak to get the win.

An's 2022 season was one of the most incredible seasons in KBO history. His fastball peaked at 160 km/h (99.4 mph), and his slider also reached 150 km/h (93.2 mph). With his nasty stuff, An dominated the whole league, went 15-8 with a 2.11 ERA and struck out 224. He broke the KBO local player strikeout record held by the legendary Dong-won Choi for 28 years, and he was only one strikeout shy of beating Ariel Miranda's KBO record. An won his first KBO ERA title, led the league in shutouts, Ks, innings and WHIP, and ranked 2nd in wins (1 behind Casey Kelly). He also won the KBO Gold Glove, but the Choi Dong-won Award was given to Kwang-hyun Kim because of An's scandal. An started in Game 1 of the 2022 Korean Series, but he allowed 2 runs in 2 2/3 innings, and he left the game due to a finger blister after Jeong Choi blasted a solo shot. His next start was in Game 5, and An bounced back as he pitched 6 shutout innings and ended up with a no-decision. The Heroes were beaten by the SSG Landers in 6 games.

The ace of Kiwoon extended his solid performance in 2023, when he went 9-7 with a 2.39 ERA in 24 starts. However, he underwent Tommy John surgery in September and missed the rest of the season.

Sources

• KBO Player Page
• Namu wiki bio