“The day I become the winning pitcher, I hope Oh Seung-hwan gets his 500th save.”
Samsung Lions’ Oh Seung-hwan (41) pitched 1 1/3 innings and allowed one run on two hits and one walk against the Hanwha Eagles at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon on April 2. He preserved Samsung’s 8-7 victory. With the win, Oh added one more save to his resume and is one save away from reaching the 500-save milestone in Korean-American history.
Oh Seung-hwan is one of the best closers in Korean baseball. After graduating from Dankook University, Oh was drafted by Samsung with the fifth overall pick in the 2005 second round and established himself as one of the top closers in the KBO. He then moved to Japan to continue his career with the Hanshin Tigers and eventually made his way to the major leagues, where he played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays, and Colorado Rockies. In the process, Oh amassed a career total of 499 saves, a feat no other Korean-American pitcher has ever accomplished.
Perhaps in this weekend’s series against Hanwha, Oh can reach 500 saves in his Korean-American career. The juniors are also looking forward to joining Oh in the record books. Won Tae-in is no different. He wants more than anything to see Oh reach the 500-save milestone in a game he starts. “I hope that on the day I become the winning pitcher, Oh Seung-hwan will get his 500th save,” said Won, who will start against Hanwha on March 3.
Previously, Won has memories of starting and becoming the winning pitcher when Oh Seung-hwan set the KBO’s first 330-save record. On September 25, 2021, against the NC Dinos in Daegu, Won pitched six innings of three-hit ball with five strikeouts and four walks, while Oh Seung-hwan pitched a scoreless ninth inning to preserve the 1-0 victory.안전놀이터
Seung-hwan Oh has been through a lot of twists and turns to get to 500 saves. He had a rough start to the season. He ended up being used as a set-up man instead of a closer, and he even made his first start as a reliever to help balance things out. After struggling to get back into the closer’s role, Oh is now back in the ninth inning and just one step away from the record books.