The rise of the Kiwoom Heroes in the Korean Baseball Organization has been unexpected. After finishing in last place last year, the team was expected to finish at the bottom of the standings again this season, as they were missing key hitters Lee Jung-hoo (who went to the major leagues) and Ahn Woo-jin (who enlisted in the military), and didn’t have much power reinforcement.
However, when the lid was lifted, it was clear that the team was formidable. The team swept the best-of-seven series against defending champion LG (2-1) and took two games against Samsung (one game was rained out). On the whistle of a four-game winning streak, Kiwoom welcomes Hanwha home for a three-game weekend series.
Hanwha, which has been in the bottom half of the standings in recent years, has been the centerpiece of the Korean Baseball Organization’s surge this season. As of April 4, they sit atop the standings with 8 wins and 2 losses. Kiwoom will start Ha Young-min and Hanwha will send Ryu Hyun-jin to the mound on Day 5. Ryu, who started against KT in Daejeon last month, was scheduled to pitch against Lotte in Daejeon on April 4 after five days of rest. However, the schedule was changed when the third game was canceled due to rain. After meeting with manager Choi Won-ho, Ryu expressed his desire to take an extra day of rest and will now pitch against Kiwoom.
Ryu, who returned to Korea after an 11-year absence
He has taken the mound twice this season but has yet to record a win in his return. He started the regular season opener against LG on March 23, but was tagged with five runs (two earned) on six hits and three walks in 3⅔ innings. He got a quality start against KT on Sept. 29 (6 innings, 8 hits, 9 strikeouts, 2 runs), but couldn’t get the win.
For Ryu, Kiwoom is a sore spot. In his last start in Korea, on Oct. 4, 2012, against the Daejeon Nexen, he pitched well, allowing one run on four hits (one home run) in 10 innings with 12 strikeouts, but was unable to add a win. 스포츠토토 Ryu crossed the Pacific with 98 career wins and will be looking for his first win of the season and 99th career victory against Kiwoom.
Kiwoom is determined not to be Ryu’s first victory sacrifice. Manager Hong Won-ki said, “(Ryu) doesn’t schedule his starts on purpose, he just goes with the flow. We have to meet one day, and it’s not bad to meet sooner rather than later,” he said.
“I remember (Ryu) hitting a home run against Kang Jeong-ho in Daejeon,” said Hong Won-ki, recalling Ryu’s last appearance in Korea. “At that time, he was the best left-hander in Korea. “It’s been a long time since then and he’s gotten a lot of experience, so it should be a good matchup.
Veteran infielder Lee Won-seok,
Who faced Ryu during his time with Lotte and Doosan, said, “Ryu came back (to Korea) after a successful season in the U.S. I want to say welcome and thank you for your hard work. I’m excited to face him again after a long time. I saw him throw on the telecast and he throws a powerful and good ball. I hope we can have a good match,” he said.
Captain Kim Hye-sung, who is Ryu’s junior at Dongsan High School, said, “I’m excited because Ryu is my senior in high school and he has had a great career in the major leagues. We want to focus on our batting and have a good game against her.”
It will be interesting to see if Kiwoom, the underdog revolutionary, can capitalize on his recent surge to end Ryu’s 99 wins.