be in good shape Ryu Hyun-jin's shock steel plate ends the face-off of the century early
Jul 26, 2025
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Ryu Hyun-jin of the Hanwha Eagles started in a home game against SSG Landers at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 26th. The game received a lot of attention as Ryu Hyun-jin and SSG Kim Kwang-hyun faced off as their first starting pitchers.
Ryu Hyun-jin, who made his professional debut as a high school graduate in 2006, and Kim Kwang-hyun, who made his debut in 2007, are great pitchers who have grown into national ace beyond the KBO League by one year. Ryu Hyun-jin has been active in the Major League for 10 years, and Kim Kwang-hyun has also played in the Major League after Ryu Hyun-jin. However, this is the first time the two have faced off. It almost happened once in 2010, but it was canceled due to the rain delay of the game, and since then, the confrontation has not been possible due to various circumstances.
Ryu Hyun-jin and Kim Kwang-hyun finally had a showdown in 19 seasons. However, an unexpected situation happened. Ryu Hyun-jin allowed five consecutive hits while failing to catch an out count in the top of the first inning.
The opponent, SSG, has recently experienced an extreme downturn in the entire batting lineup. However, a great variable occurred. After allowing the first batter Jihoon Choi to hit, he gave up a walk while not being able to control his ball at the batter's box against Ahn Sang-hyun. Ryu Hyun-jin allowed Choi Jung to make a timely hit in the first and second bases with no outs. Subsequently, he gave up an RBI double over the height of right field again in the match against Herredia.
He walked again against No. 5 hitter Ko Myung-joon. The runners piled up again without catching the out. Ryu Hyun-jin, who gave up a sweeping three-run double to sixth batter Kim Sung-wook that completely separated the left-center with no outs, quickly bowed to five runs.
He then handled Lee Ji-young with a ground ball in front of the pitcher, grabbed his first out count of the day, and ended the inning by double-out to the second baseman when Jung Joon-jae hit a straight line at second base, but Ryu Hyun-jin recorded 32 pitches in the first inning alone.
Ryu's maximum fastball speed was 145 kilometers, 20 strikes and 12 balls. Hanwha's bench replaced the pitcher by placing Um Sang-baek on the mound instead of Ryu Hyun-jin in the top of the second inning when they were losing 0-5.
Hanwha's bench seems to have decided to replace Ryu in consideration of Ryu Hyun-jin's run in the first inning and his overall condition. An official from the Hanwha team explained that there was nothing unusual about Ryu Hyun-jin's physical condition.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
