Jung Hyun-soo has earned his first win in eight games

Rookie left-handed pitcher Jung Hyun-soo (23) of the Lotte Giants of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) has earned his first win in eight games since making his first-team debut.

Jeong started the game against the Kiwoom Heroes of the 2024 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, South Korea, on March 30 and pitched five innings of one-hit ball with one walk and six strikeouts.

In the top of the first inning, Jung walked leadoff hitters Lee Ju-hyung and Kim Hye-sung before striking out Song Sung-moon. In the second inning, Choi Ju-hwan reached on a throwing error by the first baseman, but Byun Sang-kwon induced a grounder to first base to load the bases and struck out Kim Jae-hyun and Jang Jae-young to end the inning.

In the third inning, Jung Hyun-soo struck out leadoff hitter Kim Byung-hwi on a wild pitch, then induced Won Sung-joon to ground out to second base and struck out Lee Joo-hyung to end the inning. In the fourth, he got Kim Hye-sung to fly out to center field and Song Sung-moon to hit a hard grounder that sailed into the first baseman’s glove. Choi Ju-hwan walked, but Byun Sang-kwon fouled out to the catcher to end the inning.

In the fifth inning,

Jung Hyun-soo, who had retired Kim Jae-hyun and Jang Jae-young on flies to left field to keep his no-hitter alive, gave up a double to Kim Byung-hwi for the first hit of the game. But he struck out Won Sung-joon to end the inning. In the sixth inning, with Lotte leading 4-0, he handed the mound over to Jin Hae-soo to end the game. Lotte went on to win 8-2 and Jeong earned his first career win.

Jeong, who was selected in the second round (13th overall) of the 2024 Rookie Draft, is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in eight games (15 innings) this season. On this day, he recorded his long-awaited debut win after eight games in the first team.

After the game, Jung was doused with water to celebrate his debut victory, and said in a postgame interview, “It was so cold. I didn’t expect it to be so cold. I think it’s colder because it’s a dome stadium,” he laughed. He continued, 파워볼실시간 “When I first started playing baseball, my goal was to start wearing a Lotte Giants uniform at Sajik Stadium. It was a thrilling moment to get my first win in a Lotte jersey.

“The first thing I thought of when I received the ball was my parents. They told me to trust my luck. Everyone wants to be good at baseball. That’s what I thought about the most when I got the ball. I had a good pitch earlier, but it was caught, and I think that’s why I was able to go through the inning so well and win the game.”

Jeong has been very strong against Kiwoom, going 1-1 with a 0.84 ERA in three games (10⅔ innings).

Prior to today’s game, he had made two appearances and recorded one hold. “I think (the previous games) helped me,” Jung said, ”but I think it’s all about confidence. I’m not a fireballer. I’m not a fireballer, so I have to be confident to get strikes. Now I will be more confident when I play against other teams.”

In an interview at the Futures All-Star Game, Jeong said that his first-team debut was quicker than he expected. “I’ve always been a little nervous throwing since I was in college. I think it’s a little different to be nervous then and to be nervous when you come to the first team. Back then, I was like, ‘Please, please, please,’ but now I’m focused on the game and nervous. Of course, when I first came, I wanted to do well. Now I’m trying to throw with a sense of responsibility,” he said of his mindset going into the first team game. “There was never a time in my baseball career this year that I thought I had to get my first win. I just thought that the results would come, I’d get wins, I’d get holds, I’d do everything, and then I got my first win. I think it came a little faster than I thought it would,” he laughed.