Park Jong-hoon, a pitcher of the SSG Landers in professional baseball, left the mound unfortunately due to injury. Even after being hit by the ball, he showed his fighting spirit to defend until the end.
Park Jong-hoon took the mound as a starting pitcher in a game against the LG Twins at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on Wednesday. He got off to a good start in the first inning. He took Hong Chang-ki out on a fly ball to shortstop, struck out Moon Sung-joo with a double-seam strikeout, and struck out Kim Hyun-soo with a swing and miss with a curveball.퀸알바
In the second inning, he struck out Austin with three strikeouts (curves) and Moon Bok-kyung with curves at a low course. Oh Ji-hwan walked in the ninth, but Park Hae-min swung and missed with a curve to end the inning. He struck out five out of six out count through the second inning.
With a 1-0 lead in the third inning, he got a hit from leadoff hitter Heo Do-hwan, and allowed first baseman Shin Min-jae to steal second base with one out. The runner went all the way to third base as the catcher’s throw went out to the outfield. Hong Chang-ki was struck out, but Moon Seong-ju hit a first-pitch double to allow the game to be tied 1-1.
In the fourth inning, however, Austin, the first batter, hit the arm. As the ball rolled toward the first base, he ran quickly, grabbed the ball, and threw it to the first base to throw it out. Then, he bowed his head to the ground and was in pain.
Trainers and coaches ran out to check Park Jong-hoon’s physical condition. Park Jong-hoon, who had been lying on the ground for a while, got up soon. Pitcher coach Bae Young-soo announced the replacement by drawing an “X” with his two hands toward the bench.
On his way to the dugout, Park swung his right arm and expressed regret. He also slapped his thighs and expressed regret.
Before the game, Lee showed faith in Park Jong-hoon. “In the last game, I told him that I felt like throwing now. I think I will continue the good flow,” he said. Park Jong-hoon gave up one run through the third inning as the coach expected, but he showed good pitching by striking out six, but was replaced by a sudden injury. He allowed two hits, one walk, six strikeouts and one run in three ⅓ innings.
“Park Jong-hoon was replaced after being hit in the right biceps region. We will decide whether to have a medical checkup or not after checking his condition,” SSG said.
Park Jong-hoon, whom he met on his way home from work after the game, announced that it was not a serious injury. “It’s okay. I told him I was going to throw more, but he told me to stop throwing,” he said.
Park Jong-hoon is 1-2 with a 6.46 ERA in four games this season. In the first two games, he was sluggish with one run in two innings and seven runs in four innings, but he became the winning pitcher by scoring three runs in six innings against KT on the 13th.
“As a player who has won 10 games many times, I think he will do well anytime because he prepared well. That’s what I thought. All players work hard. It’s a basic rule. But not all hard-working players do well. There are players who wish good luck, but Jong-hoon is like that. Not only me but all the players in the team feel that way.”
In 2017, Park Jong-hoon became the 10th winning pitcher for the first time with 12 wins and 7 losses with a 4.10 ERA in 29 games. In 2018, he recorded the most wins in his career with 14 wins and 8 losses with a 4.18 ERA in 30 games.
He spent his prime time with 8 wins and 11 losses with a 3.88 ERA in 28 games in 2019 and 13 wins and 11 losses with a 4.81 ERA in 29 games in 2020. He played for the Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games in 2018 and the Premier 12 national team in 2019.
After nine games in 2021, Park won four games and lost two with a 2.82 ERA, he underwent Tommy John surgery in June. After nearly a year of rehabilitation, he returned in mid-2022. He recorded a 3-5 record with a 6.00 ERA in 11 games in 2022, and was sluggish last year with a 2.6-6 record with a 6.19 ERA in 18 games. He is looking for a comeback this year. After the 2021 season, Park Jong-hoon signed a five-year, 6.5 billion-year contract with SGG while in rehabilitation.