Another level too Ryu Hyun-jin, in his first domestic appearance in 12 years, pitched 3 innings, allowed 1 run

Ryu Hyun-jin, who returned to his former team Hanwha after 12 years, is fighting in his own Blue and White match held at Hanwha Life Insurance Eagles Park in Jung-gu, Daejeon on the 7th.

Ryu Hyun-jin (37), who stepped onto the mound at Daejeon Stadium wearing the Hanwha Eagles uniform for the first time in 12 years, put up a 'monster'-like fight.

Ryu Hyun-jin took the mound as the home team's starting pitcher in the Blue and White game held at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon on the 7th, allowing 1 hit, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, and 1 run in 3 innings.

Although he gave up one run, overall it was an outstanding pitch worthy of the name Ryu Hyun-jin. Ryu Hyun-jin showed excellent ball control while utilizing the strike zone extensively. He barely had any trouble.

According to the Hanwha team, Ryu Hyun-jin's pitch count was 46. He had 30 strikes and 16 balls, a strike rate of 65.2%. He checked various types of pitches, including fastballs (23), curves (10), change-ups (9), and cutters (4), and the highest speed of fastballs was 143 km.

Ryu Hyun-jin, who played in the Major League Baseball (MLB) for 11 years from 2013 to 2023, returned to Hanwha last month after receiving the highest treatment ever, with an 8-year contract and a total of 17 billion won.

Ryu Hyun-jin, who finished the camp, threw a ball in Korea for the first time since returning through the Blue and White match. Although it is an unofficial game, it has been 4,172 days since Ryu Hyun-jin stood on the mound at Daejeon Stadium since the regular season game against Nexen Heroes (now Kiwoom) on October 4, 2012.

Ryu Hyun-jin finished the inning cleanly with 15 balls in the top of the first inning.

He threw a high outside fastball against the first batter, Jeong Eun-won, and struck out him. He then treated Hyunbin Moon with a ground ball to third base, and then threw a low cutter to the body in a confrontation with Taeyeon Kim, striking out the standings.

He looked a bit shaken in the top of the second inning. Ryu Hyun-jin hit a double that flew to the left fence with 2 balls and 2 strikes from the visiting team's fourth batter, Chae Eun-seong. It was Ryu Hyun-jin's only hit that day.

Ryu Hyun-jin treated Lee Jin-young with a ground ball to shortstop, but committed a wild pitch during Ha Joo-seok's at-bat. Meanwhile, second base runner Chae Eun-seong headed to third base. He then threw three balls and allowed a walk in a favorable count of 1 ball, 2 strikes against Ha Joo-seok, and was driven to 1st and 3rd bases with 1 out.

The next batter was Lee Jae-won, a friend of the same age. Lee Jae-won hit Ryu Hyun-jin's second pitch on the first strike and sent the ball into the outfield. Center fielder Jonathan Peraza caught the batted ball and made two outs, but was unable to stop third base runner Chae Eun-seong from reaching home.

Ryu Hyun-jin, who gave up the first run, immediately grounded Lee Myung-ki with one ball to second base, preventing further runs.

Ryu Hyun-jin showed stability again in the top of the third inning. He struck out Park Sang-eon and Kim Kang-min with a fly ball and a missed swing at second base, respectively.

On this day, the Blue and White match was played with the Automatic Pitching System (ABS) and pitch clock introduced in the KBO League starting this season, and Ryu Hyun-jin violated the pitch clock once.

Ryu Hyun-jin allowed consecutive fouls after getting two strikes against Jeong Eun-won in the top of the third inning with no runners and two outs. Within 18 seconds, he failed to throw the ball and one ball went up. Still, Ryu Hyun-jin did not waver and finished pitching that day by throwing out Jeong Eun-won on a fly ball to left field.

Ryu Hyun-jin, who completed the Blue and White match, is scheduled to undergo a final inspection by playing in two exhibition games, including the Daejeon KIA Tigers match on the 12th and the Sajik Lotte Giants match on the 19th.

Afterwards, Ryu Hyun-jin will appear in the regular season opening game against the LG Twins held at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 23rd. In addition, Ryu Hyun-jin will play in the five-man starting rotation, and if there are no variables such as rain cancellation, he will appear in the home opening game between KT Wiz and Daejeon on the 29th.

Meanwhile, in the match against Blue and White that day, Ryu Hyun-jin's home team lost 0-3. The away team's fourth hitter, Chae Eun-seong, who was the only player to hit against Ryu Hyun-jin, hit a two-run gun in the top of the seventh inning.

">Moon Dong-ju, who started as the visiting team's starting pitcher, threw a fastball up to 148 km and allowed 2 hits, 1 walk, 1 out, and no runs in 3 innings. 고스톱