Lotte Giants rookie left-handed pitcher Chung Hyun-soo (23), a former “strongest baseball,” wowed Lotte fans who visited Sajik Stadium with a brilliant strikeout show.
Chung Hyun-soo pitched as the team’s second pitcher in the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League Kiwoom Heroes at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the 18th, and pitched three ⅓ innings with one hit, no outs, and seven strikeouts. After a fierce overtime game, Lotte won 5-4 with a walk-off home run by “Captain” Jeon Joon-woo in the bottom of the 10th inning and took the winning series.
Lee Min-seok, the starting pitcher of the Lotte Giants, was shaken up by allowing four hits, four walks and three runs during two ⅓ innings. Taking over the mound at the top of the third inning with one out and runners on the first and second bases, Chung preempted the count in his favor at 0-2, and secured strikeouts at three pitches with his signature curveball.
Jung Hyun-soo, who faced Won Sung-joon, his former teammate of the “strongest baseball,” with two outs and runners on the first and second bases, made a ball count of 1-2 with a curve and slider and struck out swinging with a slider that flowed outside.
The strikeout show continued in the fourth inning. Against the leadoff hitter Lee Seung-won, he completely stole the timing with a fifth pitch and struck out swinging. The next batter, Kim Geon-hee, also picked out a curveball on the outside with a 2-2 count, to take away the rookie strikeout. Having posted strikeouts for four consecutive batters, Chung treated Park Soo-jong to a groundout to the shortstop, resulting in three strikeouts.
Chung is on the verge of scoring a run after being hit twice by leadoff hitter Lee Ju-hyeong in the fifth inning. While Kim Hye-sung was grounded out to the second base, the runner advanced to the third base, with one out and one on the third base. Chung’s strikeout ability shone once again at the risk of losing a point. Against Song Sung-moon, who has the highest batting average (0.348) among Korean hitters in the league, he swung and missed with a high fastball to his body at the count of 2-2. Chung grounded out to the first base with two outs and runners on the third base, and finished the fifth inning without allowing a run.
Taking the mound in the sixth inning, Chung again showed strikeouts. He struck out the batter with an out fastball, which caught the leadoff batter, Bae Sang-kwon off guard with a ball count of 1-2. Won then struck out on the third pitch with a slider-curve-slider. After throwing 48 pitches (strike 36), Chung gave the mound to Han Hyun-hee to wrap up the day’s pitching. Although he failed to become a winning pitcher, he took full responsibility for long innings when the starting pitcher collapsed early, laying the groundwork for his team’s victory. 스포츠토토
Chung Hyun-soo, who graduated from Busan High School and Songwon University and wore the Lotte uniform as the 13th pick in the second round of the 2024 Rookie Draft, has already made his name known to many baseball fans through JTBC entertainment program “The Greatest Baseball.” He showed off his excellent strikeout ability with waterfall curves in the college league and “The Greatest Baseball,” but the wall of professional baseball was high. Before the game on the 18th, Chung Hyun-soo recorded a disappointing performance with an ERA of 6.00 in four games in the first division. He recorded four strikeouts in three innings, but had difficulty controlling the ball with five walks (4 balls and one ball that fit his body).
Chung, who had been performing well in 19 games with two wins, three losses and five holds and an ERA of 3.55, was called back to the first team in about three weeks. This time, he was different from the previous four games. He did not yield a single walk and scored a whopping seven strikeouts, wowing home fans who came to Sajik Stadium.
On June 16, about two months ago, Chung played in a match between the “strongest baseball” Monsters and the Lotte Giants’ second division, drawing much attention as he faced off with Lee Dae-ho, the “fourth batter of Joseon.” Chung did not shy away from the game, and allowed Lee Dae-ho to hit a home run. Fans who filled Sajik Stadium with a thrilling home run by the legendary player were enthused. Chung, who was a supporting actor in a famous scene at the time, once again made Sajik Stadium hot by becoming the star of the strikeout show with his best pitching since joining the pro league.
