Go Woo-suk to pitch for Padres against former club LG Twins

San Diego Padres relief pitcher Go Woo-suk jogs during spring training baseball workouts in Peoria, Arizona on Feb. 18. [AP/YONHAP]

Go Woo-suk, the former LG Twins reliever that became one of the San Diego Padres’ Korean contingent over the offseason, will get the chance to pitch against his old club, new manager Mike Shildt said Monday.

"He's going to pitch today, which is exciting," Shildt said at his pregame press conference according to Yonhap News Agency. "He's fired up about competing against his former team. I'm sure there's a lot of different emotions for him today."

The Padres will face the KBO reigning champion Twins in their second exhibition game on Monday, having beaten the Korean national team 1-0 on Sunday evening. The exhibition games act as the warmup for the Seoul Series on Wednesday and Thursday, a two-game series between the Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers that acts as the official opener of the 2024 MLB season.

Go joined the Padres on a two-year deal in January, but has so far struggled to do enough in spring training to guarantee a position in the squad when the season proper starts. He has a 12.46 ERA in four and a third innings of work and faces tough competition for a spot in the lineup from more established players like Robert Suarez and Wandy Peralta and new Japanese import Yuki Matsui.

"Suarez was able to nail it down yesterday. He's obviously a good choice," Shildt said. "Peralta is a guy that's not overly splitty. Yuki's still getting his footing. So there's opportunities for guys throughout the course of the season, but I think we're in pretty good shape to have choices."

Go was the KBO-winning LG Twins’ final pitcher on the mound during Game 5 of last year’s historic Korean Series. He delivered three outs during the ninth inning to secure a 6-2 finish over runners-up KT Wiz and win the series 4-1.

He’s pitched for the Twins since 2017. Go has a career 3.18 ERA over 354 appearances, recording 19 wins and 26 losses. Go ended the Twins’ title-winning season with a 3.68 ERA over three wins and eight losses, appearing in 44 games. Over the last three seasons, Go has posted a 2.23 ERA with 207 strikeouts against 66 walks.

Go was the second Korean player to move to the Majors this winter, following in the footsteps of his brother-in-law Lee Jung-hoo, who moved further up the coast with the San Francisco Giants on a record 6-year, $113 million deal.

The Padres face the LG Twins in Seoul at midday Monday. The Dodgers will then return to Gocheok Sky Dome to take on the Korean national team at 7 p.m.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]