The Hanwha Eagles of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) had ace Ryu Hyun-jin but couldn’t smile in their opening game. The Eagles’ lack of attention to detail was evident in their opening game against defending champion LG.
Hanwha fell 2-8 in their opening game against LG on Wednesday at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul. Hanwha had plenty of chances to score early on, but failed to capitalize on them due to poor execution and errors. In a tightly contested game, Ryu Hyun-jin made a critical error that cost him the game.
Ryu, who was returning to the KBO after a 12-year absence, was nervous on the opening day and his pitches were not good. His fastball topped out at 150 mph, but he was unable to utilize his changeup, giving up a lot of hits with his fastball. He allowed five runs (two earned) on six hits and three walks in 3⅔ innings.
Hanwha had seven hits and three walks in the fourth inning, but only scored two runs. Hanwha had runners on first and second with no outs in the top of the second inning when Noh Si-hwan walked and Chae Eun-sung singled. With the leadoff spot up for grabs, 안전놀이터 the Hanwha bench instructed Moon Hyun-bin to lay down a bunt.
He bunted the first pitch toward third base and hit it hard.
LG played aggressive bunt defense, and third baseman Moon Bo-kyung quickly ran to the plate and threw to shortstop Oh Ji-hwan, who was in the third base coverage, to force out the runner at second. A bunt failed. With runners at first and second, Kim Kang-min grounded to shortstop. A failed bunt and a walk were the worst possible outcomes. In the bottom of the second inning, Ryu gave up three consecutive singles to load the bases for the first two runs.
Hanwha managed just one run in the top of the third inning despite three hits, including two doubles. Ha Joo-seok doubled and Choi Jae-hoon singled to right to put runners on second and third with no outs. After Jung Eun-won grounded out to the second baseman, Peraza followed with a single to left-center. However, with runners on second and third, Ahn Chi-hong’s grounder to the third baseman was thrown out at home as the runner tried to run home. Noh Si-hwan, the home run king, struck out swinging. The decisive counter was not there.
The fourth inning ended with only one run in the bases loaded. There were two outs at home. Chae Eun-sung singled, Moon Hyun-bin walked, and Kim Kang-min singled (after a failed bunt, the call was overturned) to load the bases. But with the bases loaded, Choi Jae-hoon singled to center field. Ha was thrown out at home on a grounder to the pitcher and Jung Eun-won was thrown out at home on a grounder to the second baseman.
Choi Won-ho started veteran Kim Kang-min in center field, noting that the lineup was “defense-oriented considering Ryu Hyun-jin’s start and the spacious Jamsil Stadium.” But then a bomb exploded in the infield.
In the bottom of the fourth inning,
With two outs, second baseman Moon Hyun-bin misplayed Moon Sung-joo’s throw to the outfield. The second-year Moon then pushed Golden Glove second baseman Jung Eun-won out to the outfield and stole second base. It would have been nice if Ryu could have gotten out of the jam, but he gave up an RBI single to Park Hae-min and a double to Hong Chang-ki.
Ryu also had a nervous opening game. At the plate and on defense, he couldn’t overcome the pressure of the first game, and while it’s one game in, all of Hanhwa’s shortcomings from last year’s rebuilding process came out at once. Can the second game erase the concerns?
Hanwha confidently announced their goals for this season, saying, “The rebuilding is over,” at the team’s departure ceremony before the season opener on the 19th. After finishing at the bottom of the table for three consecutive years from 2020 to 2022, 토토사이트 추천 Hanwha managed to turn things around last year. They had three years to gather prospects and gain experience for their young players. Heading into this season, the team is aiming for a postseason berth with the addition of free agent Ahn Chi-hong, the experience of veterans Kim Kang-min and Lee Jae-won, and the return of Ryu Hyun-jin.
The team needs to fill in the fundamentals and details to erase Choi Won-ho’s joking remark that “if the players drown, the coaching staff will be fired” in response to the team’s pledge to fail to reach the top five.
