Lee Tae-yang (33-Hanwha Eagles), who returned to his hometown team and has been a stellar performer in long relief and as an “alternate starter,” got the win.
Hanwha won 4-3 against the NC Dinos of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Changwon NC Park on Saturday afternoon. With the win, Hanwha’s third straight, the team remains in eighth place with 41 wins, six draws and 52 losses.
Hanwha started Lee Tae-yang on the mound. Lee has been back with his home team this season, pitching in long relief and as an “alternate starter”. Despite taking on the grueling and potentially positionally confusing job of pitching, Lee had been stellar with a 2.43 ERA in 55.1 innings pitched prior to this game.
In particular, Lee had pitched two scoreless innings (April 23 against the LG Twins) and 3.2 scoreless innings (May 20 against the LG Electronics) in his two starts prior to this game. His performance was unwavering in his last-minute start. Eventually, Hanwha manager Choi Won-ho made a late-season change to the starting lineup, bringing Lee into the starting rotation.
However, Lee’s pitch count was an issue. He had been pitching long relief, so he hadn’t yet developed the stamina to reach 100 pitches. “I’m thinking 70 to 80 pitches,” Choi Won-ho said before the game.
However, Lee showed efficient pitch count management with an aggressive approach. He was shaky in the first inning and gave up a run, but he settled in with a mix of fastballs in the low-to-mid 140 kilometers per hour, a forkball, slider, and curveball.
By the end of the fifth inning, Lee had pitched a perfect game, allowing only one run on 63 pitches. Her final line was five innings, one run, four hits, no walks, and one strikeout. Hanwha scored a run in the top of the sixth inning to take a 2-1 lead. It was Lee’s first start in a Hanwha uniform in 2,250 days. 메이저사이트
After the game, Lee said, “I was grateful for the opportunity to start again. It was meaningful to be able to show my competitiveness as a starter,” said Lee after the game. “When I throw short pitches in the bullpen, I try to get strikeouts. When I’m on the mound, I try to make in-play pitches because I want to go the distance.”
Lee has always pitched well in the bullpen and as a substitute starter. Once he officially joined the starting rotation, he immediately started winning. It will be interesting to see what the “transformation genius” has in store for the rest of the season.