With only one newcomer, Ryu Hyun-jin, the KBO is changing the game. After seeing the spiciness of the Hanwha Eagles in a practice game, KT Wiz manager Lee Kang-cheol didn’t hesitate to pick Hanwha as a dark horse for the 2024 season. Starting, middle, and finishing, Hanwha is the best in the league.
KT lost 2-15 in a spring training exhibition game against Hanwha at Gochinda Stadium in Okinawa, Japan on April 28.
The mound gave up 15 runs on 21 hits against a lineup of Jung Eun-won (left fielder), Jonathan Peraza (right fielder), Ahn Chi-hong (designated hitter), Noh Si-hwan (third baseman), Chae Eun-sung (first baseman), Moon Hyun-bin (second baseman), Lee Jin-young (center fielder), Ha Joo-seok (shortstop), and Choi Jae-hoon (catcher). They failed to shut down the dynamite cleanup trio of Noh Si-hwan and Chae Eun-sung, allowing multi-hit games, 바카라사이트 and struggled against Jung Eun-won (4-for-3, 2 RBI) and Moon Hyun-bin (3-for-2, 4 RBI).
The offense managed just two runs against the mound,
Starting with starter Kim Min-woo (2⅔ innings, one run), followed by Lee Min-woo (⅓ inning, no run), Kim Seo-hyun (1 inning, no run), Jung Hwang (1 inning, no run), Kim Kyu-yeon (1 inning, no run), Kim Bum-soo (1 inning, no run), Joo Hyun-sang (1 inning, no run), and Park Sang-won (1 inning, no run). The team struggled to get past the fireballing bullpen of Kim Seo-hyun, Kim Bum-soo, Joo Hyun-sang, and Park Sang-won. Despite being an exhibition game to test the waters, Hanwha’s solidified depth and performance was evident.
“When I saw Hanwha’s batting lineup, I realized that their No. 3, 4, and 5 batters were really good. They don’t have any hitters who swing wildly. They have long power and can make contact.” “Even Jung Eun-won is hitting well, so I think they will be stronger if the No. 2 foreign hitter survives. Moon Hyun-bin is also hitting well. There is no place for the batters to rest. Of course, we’ll see when we open the lid, but it’s not easy,” he said tongue-in-cheek.
On the mound,
The team quickly became a championship contender with the addition of Ryu Hyun-jin, who has 78 career wins in the major leagues. Hanwha had originally planned to use foreign duo Felix Peña-Ricardo Sanchez and Moon Dong-joo in the top three spots and Kim Min-woo, Lee Tae-yang, Kim Ki-jung, and Hwang Jun-seo in the fourth and fifth spots, but with Ryu’s return, Hanwha now has a perfect four-man rotation. And not just any starting rotation, but a rotation led by Ryu Hyun-jin, who Hanwha coach Choi Won-ho praised as “better than Pedi.”
“I think Hanwha is number one in the middle, middle, and end,” says Lee. With the addition of Ryu Hyun-jin, the starting four are back, and if you add Kim Min-woo to the mix, the five is solid. The middle was always strong, but I feel like it’s even stronger now that the starters are backed up. The bullpen is also very strong, with all of them having fastballs over 150 kilometers. Hanwha is the one that stands out right now,” he said, adding that he is on high alert for the Eagles.
Ryu signed an eight-year, 17 billion won contract (including an opt-out – the details of the opt-out were agreed upon by both parties) with his hometown team Hanwha on March 23. This is the highest multi-year contract in the KBO, surpassing the previous record of 15.2 billion won for 4+2 years for Doosan’s Yang Yang-ji. It also surpasses Kim Kwang-hyun’s four-year, 15.1 billion won contract, which he signed when he returned to the KBO in 2022 after playing for the St. Louis Cardinals.
At 37 years old, Ryu is still a major league player.
Although he’s past his prime, he’s still considered to be a solid No. 4 or No. 5 starter in the major leagues. He has a wealth of experience, longevity, and precise command of his pitches, and there are even predictions that if he returns to Korea, Hanwha could once again dominate the KBO. That’s why Hanwha has quickly become a dark horse with Ryu Hyun-jin.
The Dongsan High School product was selected in the second round of the 2006 rookie draft with the second overall pick. In his rookie year, he went 18-6 with a 2.23 ERA and 204 strikeouts in 30 games (201⅔ innings), winning the pitching triple crown (most wins, ERA, and strikeouts) and becoming the first pitcher in the league to win both the MVP and Rookie of the Year awards. Over the next seven years, until 2012, he was one of the best pitchers in Korea, winning 190 games (1269 innings) with a 98-52 record, one save, 1238 strikeouts, and a 2.80 ERA.
In 2013, he moved to the Major League Baseball,
Where he was a quality starter on the world’s biggest stage, posting a 78-48 record, one save, 934 strikeouts, and a 3.27 ERA in 186 games (1055⅓ innings) until last year. In 2019, he went 14-5 with a 2.32 ERA in 29 games (182⅔ innings), 163 strikeouts, and 163 walks for the Dodgers, earning his first career All-Star, leading the league in ERA, 토토사이트 순위 and finishing second in the National League Cy Young Award voting.
If all goes according to plan, Ryu will take the mound on March 23 against Jamsil LG in the regular season opener and on March 29 against KT in Daejeon for Hanwha’s home opener. “KT is a strong team that reached the Korean Series last year, so I need to prepare a lot. There are many unfamiliar hitters, so I have to study a lot,” he said.