Choi Won-ho, manager of the Hanwha Eagles, mentioned ace Ryu Hyun-jin (37) ahead of the game against the Doosan Bears in Jamsil on the 10th. Ryu Hyun-jin started the game against the Kiwoom Heroes in Gocheok on the 5th and challenged for his first win in KBO and 99 wins in his career, but suffered a setback. In four ⅓ innings, he lost his second game of the season as he collapsed with 81 pitches, 9 hits, 2 outs, 2 strikeouts, and 9 runs. Ryu Hyun-jin’s previous highest number of runs was eight against the Samsung Lions in Daejeon on July 18, 2012. In the KBO League, he lost the most runs in a season, losing his pride. Hanwha ended up losing 7-11 on the day, and lost 4-7 against Doosan in Jamsil on the 10th, falling into a quagmire of five consecutive losses. In other words, Ryu Hyun-jin’s nightmare was the prelude to Hanwha’s nightmare of losing consecutive games.고소득알바
Coach Choi reflected on one thing after Ryu Hyun-jin collapsed. It’s natural to believe in Ryu Hyun-jin, but that belief has become poisonous. Ryu Hyun-jin played with opposing hitters by pitching a scoreless pitch until the fourth inning against Kiwoom on the 5th. Since the batting lineup also supported four points, it seemed that if Ryu Hyun-jin lasted one more inning, he would be able to win 99 wins.
However, suddenly in the fifth inning, Ryu’s control began to deteriorate. With the ball count at 2-1, he threw a change-up to leadoff batter Kim Hui-jip to allow a hit to the left-center field, and the next batter, Lee Hyung-jong, allowed a walk. With no outs and runners on the first and second bases, Ryu was on the verge of overcoming the crisis as he had done previous innings, but he allowed the next batter, Kim Jae-hyun, to hit a timely double to the left field, leading to his team’s 4-1 lead.
Right after Ryu lost a point, Kiwoom hitters began to attack Ryu’s first pitch or second pitch. As if they had been waiting for Ryu, they reacted within the first and second pitches as if they had suddenly seen through his pattern, resulting in consecutive hits. With runners on the second and third bases with one out, Park Soo-jong hit a timely hit to the left on Ryu’s first pitch, making it 4-2, and the next batter, Lee Ju-hyung, hit a timely hit on Ryu’s first pitch cutter to make it to the middle game. Dawson hit the cutter on Ryu’s second pitch and hit a timely hit to the right, tying the game 4-4.
Ryu’s crisis continued. With runners on the first and third bases with one out, Kim Hye-sung hit a timely hit to left, made the score 4-5, and Choi Joo-hwan loaded the bases with one out, before Kim Hui-jip hit a timely two-run single to center field to make the score 4-7. While Kim Jae-hyun and Kim Hui-jip allowed seven hitters in a row, the Hanwha Eagles replaced Kim Seo-hyun with the mound after all as Ryu failed to come to his senses. Kim Seo-hyun brought two more home-runners, and Ryu’s loss increased to nine. Ryu’s ERA soared to 8.36 from the previous 3.72 and he had to face the humiliation of being the lowest among the 25 pitchers who met the stipulated innings.
“As soon as the ball touched the bat, it became a hit. When one or two hitters get on base, the bench sends a signal to warm up to the bullpen. In the case of yesterday (May 5), the team was winning 4-0, and if it allowed about two runs, the team would have prepared to replace Ryu. However, because he got the hit so quickly, he missed the timing to replace Ryu,” Choi blamed himself.
“I never thought it would be a tie. But he kept getting hits. When I thought I had to prepare quickly, it was too late,” he said honestly. Ryu’s control was shaken rapidly, but he admitted the mistake of the bench, which trusted Ryu and responded complacently in the beginning.
Ryu Hyun-jin showed a tendency to increase the number of runs rapidly when all three games this season exceed 60-70 pitches. In fact, Ryu Hyun-jin’s hit rate in the first and third innings is 0.219 and the hit rate in the fourth and sixth innings is as high as 0.500. The best scenario for Hanwha is that Ryu Hyun-jin is a little more relaxed in his fourth appearance of the season and does not shake after the fifth inning, but the figures so far show that he needs to prepare for the bullpen quickly.
Choi does not want to repeat the same mistakes. “I think we should make him prepare more than other games first, and wait a little faster for the bullpen,” Choi said of Ryu, who will start against Doosan on Wednesday. “I think we should watch (Ryu Hyun-jin’s) ball and see what happens.”
Immediately after signing an eight-year contract worth 17 billion won with Hanwha in mid-February, Ryu Hyun-jin began preparing for the season at the second spring camp in Okinawa, Japan. From live pitching to blue-and-white matches and exhibition games, he made a tight schedule and moved, and created a physical condition that could make up to 90 to 100 pitches in time for the opening of the regular season.
Still, it is true that the number of exhibition games he played was small compared to the days of the U.S. Major League Baseball. Ryu pitched in only two games and entered the regular season, and in the end, his physical strength did not improve enough. If he had prepared for the season in the Major League, he would have thrown at least four to five games and entered the opening of the regular season. The physical strength of starting pitchers’ pitching is also a problem that is generally seen in the KBO league this season, when the opening of the season has been accelerated.
Choi said, “I think it’s an adaptation to the number of pitches, rather than physical strength. Things like that will probably be lower than what we used to do in the U.S. The U.S. also starts exhibition games early,” and agreed that Ryu probably didn’t have enough time to prepare for the season compared to his time in the Major League.
Ryu Hyun-jin was hit in the match against Kiwoom on the 5th due to a sudden struggle with his ball control, but his ball power itself did not drop. He shot a maximum fastball speed of 147 kilometers and a minimum speed of 140 kilometers. Cutters, curves, and changeups were mixed here.
Choi said, “I was hit hard as the ball was concentrated. I think there is enough room for improvement. If the ball power has significantly decreased, it could be a matter of physical strength. However, the ball power was not bad. The ball power can improve enough,” adding, “Molly predicted that Ryu’s sluggish performance will not be long-term.”