Kim Ki-joong, 22, a fourth-year left-handed pitcher for the Hanwha Eagles of the Korean Baseball Organization, pitched the game of his life. In his professional debut, he pitched six scoreless innings to dominate the Lotte Giants and earn his first win of the season. With Ryu Hyun-jin as the starter and Hwang Jun-seo, Cho Dong-wook, and Kim Ki-joong in the rotation, Hanwha has four lefties in its starting rotation. It’s a dramatic change from last year’s all-right-handed lineup, which featured only Ricardo Sanchez.
Ki-joong Kim started the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League 2024 home game against Lotte at Daejeon’s Hanwha Life Eagles Park on April 30 and pitched six innings of two-hit ball, striking out six and walking none to lead Hanwha to a 15-0 victory. First win of the season. It was his second career quality start and first since August 31, 2021, against KT in Daejeon (6 innings, 2 hits, 1 walk, 2 home runs, 6 strikeouts, 1 run). He also lowered his season ERA from 4.76 to 3.12.
Kim Ki-joong, who had spent the season in the bullpen, was called up to replace Felix Peña, who was released and Ricardo Sanchez was recovering from elbow pain. In his first start of the season, he allowed two runs on four hits and three walks with three strikeouts and one hit batter in four innings against LG Daejeon on April 22, and after a week off, he made a strong impression with a career-best pitch against Lotte.
In the first inning,
He induced Hwang Sung-bin to ground out to second base and Yoon Dong-hee to ground out to second base, then struck out Ko Seung-min on a body curveball to end the inning. In the second inning, second baseman Hwang Young-mook recorded all three outs by himself. He got Victor Reyes, 안전놀이터 Yoo Kang-nam to fly out and Park Seung-wook to ground out.
In the third, he got Kim Min-seong to fly out to center field and Noh Jin-hyuk to ground out to second before striking out Kim Min-seok on a high curveball. In the fourth inning, he struck out Hwang Sung-bin on a foul fly to third base, then struck out Yoon Dong-hee on a slider in the center zone before getting Ko Seung-min to ground out to second base.
After four perfect innings, Kim Ki-joong took the mound in the fifth inning with an 8-0 lead and plenty of offensive support. A leadoff infield single by Reyes broke his perfect streak, but he didn’t falter. Yoo Kang-nam’s well-hit line drive to shortstop Lee Do-yoon, who made a diving catch.
After striking out Park Seung-wook on an outside slider and getting Kim Min-seong to fly out to right field to end the fifth, Kim started the sixth by getting Noh Jin-hyeok to ground out on a high curveball. After getting Kim Min-seok to ground out to second, he gave up an infield single to Hwang Sung-bin, but struck out Yoon Dong-hee on three pitches. He induced a wild swing with a low fastball outside.
Totaled 88 pitches, 61 strikes and 27 balls.
His fastball (42) topped out at 145 mph and averaged 142 mph per Trackman, with an even mix of slider (30), curve (9) and changeup (7). His strikeout pitches were three curveballs, two sliders, and one fastball. He struck out four batters with his high-zone pitches. Go Seung-min, Kim Min-seok, Park Seung-wook, and Noh Jin-hyuk struck out against Kim’s changeup. Lotte held Hanwha scoreless for 25 consecutive innings, starting in the fourth inning against Hanwha on April 28.
After the game, Kim said of his perfect streak until the fourth inning, “I didn’t think about it at all. I didn’t go in there trying to be perfect, I just threw and the results came out. I didn’t think about it at all because I thought it would be worse if I thought about the perfect game, so I didn’t pay attention to it. I knew about it (the perfect game), but I didn’t think I had to do better,” he said. ‘My goal was to not give up a hit, and I’m happy that I accomplished that goal.’
The victory was even more meaningful because he pitched a no-hitter. “My pitches have always been the key, but it helped that my training coach Lee Ji-pung mentally prepared me. I can’t tell you what it is because it’s a secret,” he laughed before adding, ”A player has to seize the opportunity when it comes. Even though I’m a substitute starter, I think I should do my best when I get the chance, even if it’s just for one game.”
The emergence of Hwang Jun-seo and Cho Dong-wook,
Two left-handed pitchers who joined the team side by side this year, has also been an inspiration. Hwang Jun-seo, the No. 1 overall pick, has settled into the starting rotation with a 2-5 record and a 4.06 ERA in 12 games (8 starts, 44⅓ innings), while Cho Dong-wook, the No. 11 overall pick in the second round, got off to a strong start with a six-inning no-hitter in his debut win over Kiwoom in Daejeon on Dec. 12. Kim Ki-joong, the No. 2 overall pick in the second round of the 2021 First-Year Player Draft, has also been on a developmental path, but the arrival of two left-handed starters in the same draft was sure to spur him on.
But with Ki-joong capitalizing on the opportunity to be the alternate starter, Hanwha was able to use four left-handed starters, led by Ryu Hyun-jin, to pick up the win. “I learned the changeup from Ryu Hyun-jin in camp,” Kim said. Jun-seo and Dong-wook are both good pitchers, 슬롯 보증 사이트 so I have a lot to learn from them. I’m learning by watching them throw (even though I’m a junior),” he said. ”The four young starters (until Moon Dong-ju) are all young and close in age, so we’re like friends. We’re like, ‘Let’s pitch well. I’ll see you when you break the streak,’” he said. Now I’ll hand it over to Dong-wook Lee (who is next).” Cho is scheduled to start against Daegu Samsung next month on April 1.