‘Nuclear Submarine’ Park Jong-hoon showed good fighting and led the rise of his team, SSG Landers.
Park Jong-hoon started an away game against Kiwoom Heroes in the 2023 professional baseball KBO League held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Guro-gu, Seoul on the 6th and threw 104 balls and blocked 7 innings with 4 hits, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts and 1 run.
Coming off the mound with the team leading 2-1, he won the season’s beastly victory (2 losses) as SSG eventually won 2-1.
Park Jong-hoon, 메이저사이트who made his professional debut in 2011 at SK Wyverns, the predecessor of SSG, is a right-handed underhand pitcher who has only worn SSG uniforms since then. Until last year, he posted an average ERA of 4.62 with a record of 69 wins and 67 losses in 212 first-team career games (997 innings).
However, Park Jong-hoon has slowed down this year. On the 7th of last month, against Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon, he pitched 6 scoreless innings, but on April 13 against Daegu Samsung Lions, he collapsed with 8 runs in 3 innings. Then, on April 19, against KT Wiz in Suwon, he took his first loss with 5 runs and 4 earned runs in 6 innings.
Fortunately, Park Jong-hoon prepared an opportunity to rebound in his fourth start. In an away game against the Doosan Bears at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on April 30, he pitched 6 innings, 6 hits, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts and 1 run. Unfortunately, as the team fell to its knees 0-2, it was the second loss, but it was a pitch that made us look forward to future performances.
And on this day, Park Jong-hoon also tied up Kiwoom’s batting line with perfect pitches. In the bottom of the first inning, Lee Jeong-hoo (third baseman straight hit) and Park Chan-hyeok (center fielder fly) were put to sleep one after another. He allowed follow-up batter Kim Hye-seong to walk and steal second base, but did not concede by blocking Edison Russell with a ground ball to third baseman.
The second inning was even cleaner. After leading lead hitter Lee Won-seok to fly to right field, he struck out Byeong-wook Lim and Seong-won Joo in a row, making his first three-way strikeout inning that day. In the bottom of the 3rd inning, Lee Byeong-gyu (strikeout), Lee Ji-young (pitcher grounder), and Lee Jeong-hu (right fielder fly) were caught in succession, continuing the three-way retreat.
At the end of the fourth inning, his crisis management ability stood out. After giving up a walk to Park Chan-hyeok, Kim Hye-seong got a right-handed hit, but he sighed by inducing Russell to double-seat the pitcher. Then, against Lee Won-seok, the shortstop made a fly hit.
The fighting continued in the bottom of the 5th inning. After putting Lim Byung-wook and Joo Seong-wook to sleep with second baseman grounder and center fielder fly, Lee Byeong-gyu treated first baseman grounder. In the bottom of the 6th inning, after leading Lee Ji-young to the right field fly, Lee Jeong-hoo and Park Chan-hyuk struck out consecutively.
In the bottom of the 7th inning, Park Jong-hoon came to a critical moment. After catching Kim Hye-seong with a shortstop fly, Russell and Lee Won-seok hit him in a row and were shaken. After that, he struck out Byeong-wook Lim, but he dedicated a ball that fit his body to Yong-gyu Lee and reached the base with 2 outs.
Afterwards, Park Jong-hoon allowed Lee Byeong-gyu to hit slightly over the height of the shortstop and took his first run. However, second base runner Lee Won-seok, who was rushing home due to left fielder Guillermo Heredia’s perfect throw, was tagged out, and the game ended without conceding any additional runs.
Park Jong-hoon’s excellent pitch, Park Seong-han’s score following the opposing pitcher’s wild pitch in the top of the 5th inning, Choi Joo-hwan’s wedge solo shot in the top of the 6th inning, Noh Kyung-eun (hole, scoreless in 1 inning) and Seo Jin-yong (three, scoreless innings in 1 inning) added SSG to the bullpen’s relay. In the end, he defeated Kiwoom and ran with 4 consecutive wins, recording 19 wins and 10 losses, keeping the lead alone.
In particular, Park Jong-hoon’s pitching on this day shined even more because the opposing starting pitcher he faced that day was Ace Woo-jin Ahn. Park Jong-hoon, who calmly continued his pitching even in the face of a pitcher representing the KBO league, won a decision victory over Ahn Woo-jin, who recorded 6 hits, 1 home run, 10 strikeouts and 2 runs in 7 innings.