LG Twins left-handed setup man Ham Deok-ju’s comeback is on the countdown. He took the mound in a Futures League game for the first time.
Ham Deok-joo pitched in a Futures League game against the Goyang Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome on the 3rd and recorded no hits, two strikeouts and no runs in one inning.
Ham Deok-ju, who took the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning with a 6-2 lead, struck out his first batters Song Jae-sun and Shim Hwi-yoon in a row, then held Park Chae-yul with a fly to left field to end the inning neatly. He threw a total of 16 pitches with eight fastballs and eight changeups, and recorded a maximum speed of 138 kilometers.
Throwing pitches in the Futures League is the last step. A starting pitcher will go through the process of increasing the number of pitches in the Futures League, but bullpen pitchers can call up the first team if they can pitch consecutively since they have 30 or more pitches. Since he did not play in a real game since the Korean Series in November last year, he may need more sense in a real game.
Ham was a key player in LG’s victory last year. Ham, who came to LG through a trade in 2021, failed to perform properly for two years due to his injury, but pitched in 57 games last year, recording four wins, no losses, four saves, and 16 holds. He also had a very good ERA of 1.62. When closing pitcher Ko Woo-suk was out due to injury, he played as a temporary relief pitcher, giving the bullpen a sense of stability. 먹튀검증
Since suffering from elbow pain in late August, he has shown slower-than-expected recovery and failed to return to the regular season. However, he pitched in a total of four games, including Games 1, 2, 3, and 5, and posted one win and an earned run average (ERA) of 2.70. In the second game, he became the first Korean Series winning pitcher as he came from behind to win the game with Park Dong-won’s dramatic two-run shot in the bottom of the eighth inning after allowing no run in the top of the eighth inning.
He applied for the first free agent in his life and signed a four-year free agent contract worth a total of 3.8 billion won (600 million won in down payment, 1.4 billion won in annual salary, 1.8 billion won in incentives). Nearly half of the compensation is incentives, but Ham showed confidence.
However, she suddenly underwent surgery as the New Year passed. She underwent a pin fixation surgery for a microfracture of her left elbow parietal bone on Jan. 16. Originally, she was expected to return around June or July, but her recovery was slow.
Ham Deok-ju also pitched for the first time when Eliaser Hernandez pitched in a practice game against Korea-Japan Jangshin University on July 31. He threw 11 pitches and recorded a maximum speed of 137 kilometers.
“Ham Deok-ju is not a pitching pitcher,” LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop said. “Change-ups can be successful with just 142 kilometers.” If Ham’s fastball speed increases a little more, he will be able to see him in the first division quickly.
Park Myung-geun, who was out due to a back muscle injury, also took the mound following Ham Deok-ju and recorded one hit and one strikeout.
Lee Jae-sang allowed a double, but Park Joo-hong was treated as a third baseman fly, and Lee Hyung-jong was treated as a center fielder fly, and Lim struck out and finished without a run. He threw 10 fastballs and four curves, and posted a maximum speed of 145 km.