Hanwha Eagles left-hander Ryu Hyun-jin (37) started a match against the Doosan Bears in Jamsil on the 11th and burst into laughter when his friend Yang Eui-ji (37) reacted. The scene of the problem came out in the bottom of the fourth inning. Ryu threw a curveball to Yang Eui-ji, and when he caught a strike, he threw another curveball. It was a curve that fell well low, but Yang Eui-ji fouled it when he touched the bat. Yang Eui-ji shouted “bread” as if he was disappointed that he was fouled even though the timing was right. Standing on the mound, Ryu couldn’t help but burst into laughter, and Yang Eui-ji, who was awkward, laughed together. Making the ball count 0-2 favorable, Ryu turned his friend around by inducing him to hit a grounder to the second base through an outside changeup.유흥알바
Yang Eui-ji was actually looking forward to a showdown with Ryu Hyun-jin. Yang Eui-ji was the most expensive baseball player in the KBO League before Ryu Hyun-jin announced his return to Korea in February. Yang Eui-ji signed an FA contract with Doosan for a total of 15.2 billion won for 4+2 years ahead of last season, setting the highest record in KBO history. Yang Eui-ji was pushed to second place when Ryu Hyun-jin signed an eight-year contract with Hanwha for a total of 17 billion won, but attention was drawn to the match between the top Korean baseball player in terms of pitching and hitting.
Before the game on the 11th, Yang Eui-ji and Doosan had a better atmosphere. Yang Eui-ji led the team to a 7-4 victory and two consecutive wins against Hanwha on the 10th with an upset three-run home run. On the contrary, Hanwha was bogged down for five consecutive losses, with Ryu Hyun-jin at the starting line. Both Ryu Hyun-jin and Hanwha were shocked as Ryu collapsed with 81 pitches, nine hits, two outs, and nine strikeouts and nine runs in four ⅓ against Kiwoom Heroes in Gocheok on the 5th. As Ryu Hyun-jin had only two losses without a win in three games this season, he had to lead his team to victory as soon as possible.
Yang Eui-ji said, “I think (Ryu) Hyun-jin is an amazing friend who has been to Major League Baseball first of all. I think it is an honor for him to come back and play with me again. First of all, I will try my best. I think Hyun-jin is very frustrated, but I think our team is important, not Hyun-jin right now. I think our team needs to do well right now. I think we need to turn the minus into a plus quickly.”
The result was a complete victory for Ryu. Ryu led the team to a 3-0 victory by pitching 94 pitches, one hit, two strikeouts, and eight strikeouts without allowing a single goal in six innings. He managed to secure his 99th career victory by ending Hanwha’s five-game losing streak. It was his first start in as many as 4,216 days since the game against the Doosan Bears in Jamsil on Sept. 25, 2012.
Yang Eui-ji started as the third designated hitter on the day and had no hits in four times at bat. Not only Yang Eui-ji but also all Doosan hitters were lost to Ryu’s ball. Kim Ki-yeon, who replaced Jang Seung-hyun who was replaced during the game due to a calf bruise, had only one hit in his first at-bat in the fifth inning, and Doosan had only one team hit until the end of the game. Doosan’s batting lineup recorded 12 points on 18 hits during the two days when it won two consecutive games against Hanwha, which was all the more shocking. As such, it can be said that Ryu Hyun-jin completely dampened the momentum of Doosan’s batting lineup.
Perhaps because the ace was awakened. Ryu threw all his might from the first inning to the sixth inning. He shot a maximum fastball speed of 148 kilometers and an average speed of 145 kilometers. In addition, he displayed his best condition up to the breaking ball on the day. Both change-ups and curves were pitches that made Doosan hitters’ heads hurt, and in particular, the curves were impressive enough to make Doosan hitters feel like they were random. Among the 19 curves, Ryu had 16 strikes.
Regarding Yang Eui-ji’s embarrassment after fouling a curveball in the fourth inning, Ryu said, “He made a foul and cursed at bread. So I laughed. The timing was right, but I think it was because it was a foul. We laughed together,” and added, “My curve ball control went well. That’s why I think I used it to make a count.”
When he was in the U.S. Major League, Ryu began to utilize slower curves to survive. As his fastball pitching gradually declined, he had no choice but to win by taking timing off with slower breaking balls to fight off sluggers in the big leagues. Immediately after Ryu returned to the big leagues after undergoing Tommy John surgery last year, his fastball speed did not rise as much as before, and his curveball began to become an even more important pitch type.
When Ryu Hyun-jin, a former member of the Toronto Blue Jays, threw a slow curve last year, there was a heated response from the U.S. and Canada. Major League pitching analyst Rob Friedman edited a video of Ryu throwing a curveball against the Baltimore Orioles on August 2 last year (Korea time) and posted it on his SNS, calling it an “insane 70 mph (112 km) curve.” It was a scene where he fell low to the outside of the right-handed batter and drew a swing and miss.
When returning to Korea, Ryu also used a very slow curveball, which dropped to the 90 kilometers per hour. Hanwha pitcher Moon Dong-joo, who watched the stable from right next to him, said, “I thought I wouldn’t be able to throw like that. When you throw a curveball at the 90 kilometers per hour, balance is very important. But (Ryu Hyun-jin) threw a curveball at the 90 kilometers per hour and threw a strike next time. I felt it was amazing. Because of the slow curveball, even if the next ball did not come out in the 150 kilometers range, the batter would feel much faster in ball speed, but I felt that he was pitching on the mound knowing that well. He is also really good at controlling speed, and I think it’s amazing.”
Ryu Hyun-jin was grateful to be able to put on Hanwha’s uniform again and give the team a win for the first time, regardless of all the reasons, such as curveball and changeup.