LG killer Ryu Hyun-jin tries to catch up with first place and two records...KBO's 7th Record Challenge

Sep 26, 2025

LG killer Ryu Hyun-jin tries to catch up with first place and two records...KBO's 7th Record Challenge
The Hanwha-KIA match held at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on the 17th. Hanwha starter Ryu Hyun-jin is preparing to take the mound. Gwangju = Reporter Jeong Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.9.17/



LG killer Ryu Hyun-jin tries to catch up with first place and two records...KBO's 7th Record Challenge
The Hanwha-KIA match held at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on the 17th. Ryu Hyun-jin took the mound as a starting pitcher for Hanwha. Gwangju = Reporter Jeong Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.9.17/
Hanwha Eagles Ryu Hyun-jin (38) will challenge the 7th record in KBO League history.

Ryu Hyun-jin will start against the LG Twins at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 26th.

Prior to the game, he had 1,490 strikeouts in his career, and if he added 10 strikeouts, he would have 1,500 strikeouts.




Ryu Hyun-jin, who is 38 years, 6 months, and 1 day as of the 26th, will break the previous record of 36 years, 5 months, and 26 days set by Song Jin-woo (former Hanwha) in the 2002 season when he achieves 1,500 strikeouts. In addition, Ryu Hyun-jin, who played in a total of 243 KBO league games, will also break Sun Dong-yeol (Jeon Hae-tae)'s 1,500 strikeouts in 301 games.

Ryu Hyun-jin, who joined Hanwha in the 2006 season, recorded his first strikeout against LG in Jamsil on April 12 of the same year. Since then, he has achieved 1,000 strikeouts with the youngest (24 years, 2 months and 25 days) and the smallest game (153 games) in history against the Doosan Bears in Daejeon on June 19, 2011.

Ryu Hyun-jin has many records in the KBO League strikeout category. In seven seasons from the 2006 season to the 2012 season, he has won the KBO strikeout award five times (2006-2007, 2009-2010, 2012) and ranks first in strikeouts in the season along with Sun Dong-yeol. In addition, on May 11, 2010, against Cheongju LG with 17 strikeouts, he set a new record for the most strikeouts in a game based on nine innings at the time, showing excellent strikeouts. The record remained a KBO league record for 15 years before Ponce broke it with 18 strikeouts in the 2025 season.




LG killer Ryu Hyun-jin tries to catch up with first place and two records...KBO's 7th Record Challenge
The match between the Hanwha Eagles and the Kiwoom Heroes at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 14th. Hanwha Ponce and Ryu Hyun-jin are watching Moon Dong-ju pitching. Daejeon = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.09.14/
He returned to the KBO League for the first time in 12 years in the 2024 season and announced his robustness with 135 strikeouts, and again this season, he recorded his 14th consecutive season with 117 strikeouts. Ryu Hyun-jin has achieved triple-digit strikeouts in all seasons he has played in the KBO League.

For Ryu Hyun-jin, his memory against LG is good. In 41 games against LG, he showed extreme performance with 24 wins, 9 losses and an ERA of 2.24 in 292 ⅔ innings, and also pitched in three games this season with one win, no loss and an ERA of 0.95.

Hanwha is in second place, 3.5 games behind LG. Depending on the results of the three consecutive games starting on the 26th, they will be able to continue their hopes of reclaiming the top spot. This is why Ryu Hyun-jin's good pitching is necessary.




The 1,500 strikeouts are the first in about 19 years for Hanwha after Song Jin-woo in the 2002 season and Jung Min-cheol (former Hanwha) in the 2006 season, and the fourth left-hander in history after Song Jin-woo, Yang Hyun-jong and Kim Kwang-hyun.

If Ryu Hyun-jin achieves 1,500 strikeouts, KBO will present a commemorative award based on the citation regulations.



This article was translated by Naver AI translator.