Baseball’s Kiwoom Heroes, who have rebounded with seven straight wins after losing four in a row to open the season, will challenge for an eighth straight victory with rookie left-hander Son Hyun-ki (19) as their starting pitcher.
Kiwoom announced on Monday that left-hander Son Hyun-ki will be the starting pitcher for its away game against SSG Landers in the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at SSG Landers Field in Incheon, South Korea.
Son, who joined Kiwoom with the 19th overall pick in the second round this year from Jeonju, is a 6-foot-2 left-handed prospect who throws a fastball that tops out at 150 mph and averages 143 mph, with a slider as his main weapon. He showed promise in spring training with the first team and impressed in the first two games of the exhibition season, allowing one run (unearned) on three hits and one walk with six strikeouts in four innings.
However, he hit a brick wall in the special game of the MLB World Tour Seoul Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on March 17. 스포츠토토 He was the second pitcher behind starter Ariel Herrado, but he was roughed up for four runs on four hits and three walks in ⅓ innings. It was a great opportunity to face a major leaguer, but he was too nervous and walked Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernandez on consecutive pitches.
Eight of the first nine pitches were strikes.
He gave up a single to James Outman to load the bases with no outs, then gave up his first run on a sacrifice fly to right field to Jason Heyward, followed by a double to Gavin Lux, a single to Chris Taylor in left, and a single to Hunter Pederson in right for four runs. After Freddie Freeman walked on five pitches to load the bases, Son was replaced by Seung-woo Joo. He threw 27 pitches, only 10 for strikes, and far more balls (17) than strikes, much to the chagrin of onlookers.
His final outing against the LG Twins in an exhibition game at Jamsil Stadium on the 19th was also shaky, allowing four runs on three hits, one walk, and one hit batter in ⅔ innings, but manager Hong Won-ki Kiwoom kept Son in the starting lineup. He got off to a good start with one inning of scoreless relief against the Gwangju Kia Tigers on March 23, the opening day of the season. On the 27th, he came in as the second pitcher in the fifth inning against the Changwon NC Dinos and pitched four innings, allowing one run on four hits (one home run) with one walk and three strikeouts.
He was scheduled to start against the Samsung Lions in Daegu on the 3rd, but the game was canceled due to rain and his debut was postponed. After pitching one inning of scoreless relief against Samsung Electronics on April 4 with one hit, one walk, one strikeout, and no runs, Son has settled in nicely with a 1.50 ERA in three games.
It will be interesting to see if he can carry that momentum into his starting debut.
Kiwoom started with four straight losses to open the season but has rebounded with seven straight wins to jump into third place. Last weekend, they swept the Hanwha Eagles, who had been on an early surge, to keep the momentum going. With the team riding high, a rookie pitcher will be making his starting debut.
Kiwoom is in the midst of a rebuilding season, with six rookies on the opening roster. Rookie pitcher Kim Yoon-ha picked up his first hold with three innings of two-run ball against Samsung Electronics in Daegu on April 2, while another rookie, Jeon Joon-pyo-pyo, earned his first win on April 7 against Hanwha in Gocheok with one inning of one-hit ball and no walks. With their unexpectedly strong start, they are poised to make both a performance and developmental impact.
SSG will start left-hander Oh Won-seok. After losing three games in a row against Changwon NC last weekend, SSG is in desperate need of a turnaround. Oh is 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA in three games (2 starts, 10 innings) this year. Against Kiwoom, 무료 슬롯 he was 1-1 with a 3.41 ERA in six games (34⅓ innings) last year.
After losing three straight to Kiwoom, Hanwha will look to turn things around against the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Stadium. Left-hander Ricardo Sanchez will start for Hanwha. Right-hander Kim Dong-ju will start for Doosan.
At Gwangju-Kia Champions Field, Kia right-hander James Nail and LG left-hander Son Ju-young are expected to start. At Busan Sajik Stadium, Samsung’s Won Tae-in and Lotte’s Na Gyun-ahn will start, while KT’s Uhm Sang-baek and NC’s Lee Jae-hak will face off at Changwon NC Park.