You’re still doing well.”
These were the words of Kim Kyung-moon, manager of the Hanwha Eagles who met him recently. As if to hear this, Ryu took the lead in Hanwha’s victory by throwing a fastball.
Ryu Hyun-jin took the mound as Hanwha’s starting pitcher in an away game against the LG Twins in the 2024 KBO League regular season at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 6th.
Ryu Hyun-jin, who wrote 98 wins, 52 losses, one save and a 2.80 ERA in the KBO League from 2006 to 2012, entered the Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2013 to 2023 and wrote 78 wins, 48 losses, one save and a 3.27 ERA, is a left-hander ace who represents Korean baseball in name and reality. Since then, he has returned to Hanwha ahead of this season.
Having struggled to adjust to the KBO League in the early days of this season, Ryu soon regained the prowess of the Korean Monster that everyone knew. He pitched well with two wins and an ERA of 1.80 in four games in June. He also had an easy performance with one win and two losses and an ERA of 4.50 in five games in July, and his report card in August was also okay with two wins and two losses and an ERA of 3.81 in five games.
In response, the team’s head coach encouraged Ryu. “[Ryu Hyun-jin] always carries the pressure to throw well. It is based on how much you have to throw at the price of Ryu’s name,” Hanwha manager Kim Kyung-moon said recently. “There have been some bad content in Ryu’s game, but there have been many games in which batters and fielders failed to support him.”
“If (Ryu Hyun-jin) returns to Korea and is happy to be with his teammates and fans, I think his ability to catch a batter will be better because no other pitcher can match him. He is still doing well,” Kim said with a thumbs-up.
Ryu Hyun-jin’s presence, which has experienced not only prenatal power but also aerial warfare, has a good effect on the formation of the team’s atmosphere.
Manager Kim Kyung-moon nodded, “(Ryu Hyun-jin) talks to his juniors a lot. In fact, it is very helpful for the team to talk to seniors rather than coaches talking to them.” 먹튀검증
Was he able to hear such remarks from the head coach? Ryu showed off his good condition from the beginning on the day as well. At the bottom of the first inning, he started the game in a good mood, defeating Hong Chang-ki (three strikeouts), Lee Young-bin (ground ball to the second base), and Austin Dean (ground ball to the second base).
In the bottom of the second inning, he displayed his crisis management skills. After striking out Moon Bo-kyung, he faced the bases loaded with one out with Park Dong-won’s hit to the center field, Kim Hyun-soo’s double to the center field, and Oh Ji-hwan’s walk. He also had a hit to the right by leadoff hitter Hong Chang-ki in the bottom of the third inning, but tied Lee Young-bin to the right field fly before leading Austin to a 4-6-3 double play (second baseman, shortstop, and first baseman).
He allowed his first run in the bottom of the fourth inning. He struck out Moon Bo-kyung and Park Dong-won in a row, but gave up a double to the right to Kim Hyun-soo and gave up a timely double to the left with an RBI. Fortunately, he led Choi to a foul fly to the right field and made no additional runs.
Ryu was in crisis in the bottom of the fifth inning, but did not allow a run. He cooked leadoff hitter Koo Bon-hyuk on a fly to center field and then walked Hong Chang-ki. He then allowed a strikeout to Lee Young-bin, but gave up a hit to Austin, who faced off with runners on the first and third bases with two outs. However, he grounded out Moon Bo-kyung to the second base to control his loss.
Ryu Hyun-jin, who came to the mound in the bottom of the sixth inning, calmly increased the out count against Park Dong-won (three strikeouts), Kim Hyun-soo (first baseman groundout), and Oh Ji-hwan (not out) to finish his duties on the day.
His final result was six hits, two outs and eight strikeouts and one run during six innings. With a total of 99 pitches thrown, he used fastballs (30 pitches) the most, while mixing curves (26), slider (15 pitches), change-up (15 pitches), two-seam/inker (10 pitches), and cutter (3 pitches). The maximum speed of fastballs was measured up to 149 kilometers.
Ryu Hyun-jin, who left the mound with his team leading 2-1, also enjoyed the joy of earning nine wins (eight losses) of the season as Hanwha won 3-1 without allowing a tie. Ryu Hyun-jin became a winning pitcher in the match against LG for the first time in 4,727 days since the match against Daejeon on September 28, 2011.
With Ryu’s stellar performance, the Hanwha Eagles ranked sixth with 60 wins, two draws and 54 losses. The team is now 1.5 games behind the Doosan Bears (64 wins, two draws and 65 losses), which is the last line for its advance to the post season, to continue its hope for fall baseball.