At Jamsil Stadium on Tuesday when KT and LG met, KT tied the game 4-4 at the top of the eighth inning with Oh Yoon-seok’s solo shot and Hwang Jae-gyun’s two-run shot. However, the team was in crisis right away. The team was on the verge of loading the bases with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning.
KT had only one choice. It was to put in closing pitcher Park Young-hyun. The opponent Park faced was Austin Dean, a 30-homer foreign hitter. Park didn’t care about his opponent, but had a fastball game. Following the first, second and third pitches, he threw four fastballs. Park Young-hyun, who threw fastballs at 150 kilometers per hour, caught Austin on a foul flyout to the first baseman, and served as a “solver” in the crisis of the bases loaded.
Park’s performance continued in the ninth inning. By striking out leadoff hitter Moon Bo-kyung, Park finished the inning with three outs, successfully leading the game to overtime. In the end, KT managed to score four runs in offense alone at the top of the 10th inning and won the game 8-4.
The winning pitcher was Park Young-hyun. During one ⅓ inning, Park struck out two and kept the pitcher cleanly without allowing even a single run. Park earned her 10th win of this season and became a record breaker. Having already recorded 21 saves, Park has become the 11th player in KBO league history to record 10 wins and 20 saves in a single season.
The first player in the KBO league to make 10 wins and 20 saves in a single season was OB (currently Doosan) Yoon Seok-hwan in 1984, who recorded 12 wins and 25 saves. Binggrae (current Hanwha) Song Jin-woo made 11 wins and 27 saves in 1990, Haitai (current KIA) Sun Dong-yeol made 10 wins and 31 saves in 1993, Hanwha Koo Dae-sung made 18 wins and 24 saves in 1996, LG Sanghoon Lee made 10 wins and 37 saves in 1997, Haitai Lim Chang-yong made 14 wins and 26 saves in 1997, Doosan Jin Pil-joong made 16 wins and 36 saves, Samsung Lim Chang-yong made 13 wins and 38 saves in 1999, Samsung veteran Jin Jang-jin made 11 wins and 23 saves one hold in 2002, and Hyundai Cho Yong-joon made 10 wins and 34 saves in 2004. It was truly a record made by legendary players.
Park Young-hyun, who took over the baton for the first time in 20 years, said, “I knew it was a record that came out in 20 years. As soon as the team turned the tables in the 10th inning of extra time, all the older players said that, so I had high expectations for the last time,” adding, “As a closing pitcher, I was more greedy to save, but it was thrilling to prevent important situations and for the team to win. I didn’t expect to win 10 games like this. I feel good to win 10 games.” 안전놀이터
Does Park know Cho Yong-joon who achieved this record 20 years ago? Cho Yong-joon who was born in 1979 and Park Young-hyun who was born in 2003 are 24 years older than Cho Yong-joon who was born in 1979. “I actually knew it while playing baseball games. You come out as a really good player in games,” Park said.
As expected, the highlight of the victory was the match against Austin, who faced with the bases loaded with two outs. “I thought that my team would win if I stopped this, so I thought that I would have to go head-to-head,” Park said sternly to Austin, “I would have kept throwing fastballs even if the game got longer.”
Park Young-hyun is making strides by having diverse experiences including playing for the national team, the hold king, and playing in the Korean Series at an early age. Notably, he played a role as a bullpen for the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, and led the team to a gold medal, winning 32 holds in the league, becoming the youngest hold king in history. He also performed in the Korean Series for the first time in his career.
“Last year, I had so many experiences. I was disappointed that I won the gold medal, but I had to face LG in the postseason,” Park said. “Thinking about it now, they were all good memories for me.”
His busy schedule seems to be waiting for him again this year. KT is increasingly likely to advance to the postseason, rising from the bottom to the fifth. Also, an international competition called the “Premier 12” will be held this winter. With his current conditions, he has no reason not to join the national team. Park has played in 19 games and pitched 23 ⅔ innings, displaying extraordinary performance with four wins, 10 saves and an earned run average of 0.38.
First of all, Park decided to focus on the rest of the regular season rather than looking far into the future. “I hope I can be of help to the team without getting sick. Postseason and national team are the next thing to do. First of all, I want to finish the remaining 20 games well during the regular season,” Park said.
Park Young-hyun, who joined KT as a first-round pick in 2022, has quickly adapted to the professional stage by pitching in 51 ⅔ innings in 52 games since his first season as a professional. Park Young-hyun, who pitched in 68 ⅓ last year and won the title of hold king with 3 wins, 3 losses, 4 saves, 32 holds, and an ERA of 2.75 in 75 games, has been transformed into a closing pitcher this year and has recorded 10 wins, 2 losses, 21 saves and an ERA of 3.20 while playing 64 ⅔ innings in 54 games. He is now in his third year as a professional, and has won 10, 20 saves and 30 holds. In short, he is on an elite course, growing into a league-leading finishing pitcher.