Is it a team that was 14 starters? What happened in a year...You can't tell without Ryu Hyunjin
Jun 16, 2025
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As of the 16th, Hanwha is leading the season with 41 wins, 27 losses and 1 draw. He has recently won four consecutive games, pushing the second-place LG Twins (40 wins, 27 losses, 2 draws) by 0.5 games. Although it is an unreliable game car, it has sufficiently confirmed its potential to recapture the first place.
A year ago, Hanwha had a strong impression that it was Ryu Hyun-jin. 'Monster' Ryu Hyun-jin's return to Korea after completing his 10-year career in the U.S. Major League Baseball was also an issue, and he drew attention once again by signing an eight-year, 17 billion-dollar contract with Hanwha. It was natural to make baseball fans excited about what kind of pitch Ryu Hyun-jin, who returned to the KBO League after more than a decade, will make.
Ryu Hyun-jin was also the only starting pitcher in Hanwha last year to fill the regular innings. Ryu went 10-8 with 158 ⅓ innings, 135 strikeouts and a 3.87 ERA in 28 games. Compared to his heyday, various records and arrests have fallen, but he still showed power on the mound based on his elaborate breaking ball control.
Except for Ryu Hyun-jin, the starting pitchers were not stable. Ricardo Sanchez-Felix Peña one-two punch packed up during the season due to injuries and sluggishness, and Jamie Barria, a former U.S. Major League Baseball 22-win pitcher who expected to be a new ace, was disappointed with a 5.24 ERA. Ryan Weiss, who joined as a temporary replacement foreigner and produced better-than-expected results, was the only harvest.
Except for Ryu Hyun-jin, domestic starters have not been consistent. Moon Dong-ju took the mound in 21 games, but only pitched 111 ⅓ innings due to poor performance and injury. Except for Jung Woo-ram, who started at the retirement ceremony, Hanwha used as many as 14 starting pitchers last year.
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Compared to last year, domestic starters have also become unrecognizable. Even though Ryu Hyun-jin left on the 6th due to an injury to his left adductor muscle, it is not very noticeable. If it were Hanwha last year, it would have led to the collapse of the mound, but alternative starters such as Hwang Joon-seo (4 games, 3.79 ERA) and Cho Dong-wook (1 game, 1.80 ERA) are doing their part steadily, helping them not to be pushed out of the lead fight.
It is true that Um Sang-baek and national team ace Moon Dong-ju, who signed the FA for four years and 7.8 billion won ahead of this season, are weaker than expected. Um Sang-baek was 1-5 with a 5.59 ERA in 11 games, while Moon Dong-ju was 5-2 with 55 innings and a 4.09 ERA in 11 games. Still, just pulling the innings as the two players continue to rotate the starting rotation gives strength to bullpen management. Um Sang-baek lost only one game in two games in June after returning from reorganization in the second division, but he showed a little pressure with 11 innings and a 3.27 ERA.
Thanks to this, Hanwha ranks first with a 3.40 starting ERA this year. Considering that it was ranked 7th with 4.95 last year, it is a huge improvement. Hanwha is firmly heading to the top despite the evaluation that its offense is relatively weak thanks to the stronger starting mound.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
