KIA Tigers left-hander Yoon Young-chul (20) raised expectations for the Korean Series with near-perfect pitching in his return match for the first time in about two months.
Yoon Young-chul led KIA to a 5-3 victory with one hit, two strikeouts and no runs in three innings in the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League regular season home game against the Samsung Lions at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Buk-gu, Gwangju on the 23rd.
It was his first appearance in the first team in 72 days since he was substituted for back pain against Gwangju SSG Landers on July 13. Yoon was the fifth starter who had shown stable performance with 7 wins, 4 losses and an ERA of 4.30 in 16 games before this year’s injury. However, he received at least three weeks of rehabilitation with a dizzying diagnosis of a fractured spinal fatigue.
As it is a sensitive injury area, KIA carefully rehabilitated. He had his first bullpen pitching only on the 6th and returned to the game against the Lotte Giants Futures team in Sangdong, Gimhae, on the 17th. At that time, the fastball speed averaged 134 kilometers per hour and up to 136 kilometers per hour, and he was called up to the first team on the 21st because he had no back pain and waited as a starting pitcher from the 22nd.
All matches against the Gwangju NC Dinos were postponed due to rain, but KIA manager Lee Bum-ho announced Yoon as the starting pitcher for the third consecutive time. “I tried to put (Yoon) Young-chul in the middle (bullet pen) but the stout got hurt, so I let him start first,” Lee said in an interview before the game. “I thought it would be better even if I threw the same number of balls. I’m thinking about 40 balls. I think it’s important for him to play as a starter, so I’m going to check if he throws all the balls with (Kim) Do-hyun and (Hwang) Dong-ha.”
Yoon Young-chul, who returned to the first team in the final round, showed perfect pitching to the extent that his absence could be overshadowed. He threw a total of 37 pitches (14 fastballs, 8 sliders, 7 cutters, 6 change-ups, 2 curves) during three innings, with an average speed of 138 kilometers per hour and maximum speed of 140 kilometers per hour. He ended the inning by hitting Diaz with a double play with one out and runners on the first base in the first inning, and made his first three-out inning by striking out Park Byung-ho and Kim Young-woong in succession in the second inning. Yoon, who finished with a three-out in the top of the third inning, was replaced by Kim Ki-hoon ahead of the defense in the top of the fourth inning.
After the game, Yoon was all smiles. “I was satisfied with my pitching. I had many things that bothered me as it was my first time pitching on the mound in a long time,” Yoon said. “I checked both types of breaking balls as I had my first real game at Futures. I used more breaking balls than fast balls, so I checked all breaking balls. I checked how fast balls were thrown at the opponent team by throwing them at high courses. I think what I practiced at that time led to good results today (23rd).”
No matter how fine the fracture is, the past two months could have been a day of worry for a young player as he injured an important part of his spine. However, Yoon Young-chul was rather happy to find the exact name of the pain he had been suffering from since middle school.
Yoon Young-chul said, “I had no fear. I heard it was an injury that I couldn’t even walk if it was severe, but it wasn’t that bad for me. Rather, I got better quickly because I rested and exercised a lot,” and added, “Actually, the bad part of middle school recurred. There were bad days in high school, and the same was true last year. I kept throwing while receiving treatment until early this year, and suddenly it got worse. Whenever I had pain, I said there was nothing special, but the disease came out. I rather felt more comfortable on that side,” smiling. “I’m okay now. I’m worried that if I keep throwing fatigue fractures, it will recur, but I’m not worried because the trainer coaches helped me a lot and gave me a lot of exercise.”
This year, KIA suffered a lot from a series of injuries by pitchers such as Will Crow, James Nail, Lee Eui-ri, and Yoon Young-chul. However, the front desk, including general manager Shim Jae-hak, actively supported by recruiting alternative foreign pitchers, and young pitchers such as Kim Do-hyun and Hwang Dong-ha filled the gap well. As a result, the team confirmed an early regular-season win on the 17th.
After watching the scene in Sangdong, Gimhae, on the day when he confirmed his regular No. 1 ranking, Yoon said calmly, “I’ve been watching the KIA games. I had some regrets about not being able to join the team when I was confirmed as No. 1. However, I worked harder thinking that I could stay with him at the event where I would win the Korean Series later on.”
He added, “It was true that the rehabilitation was long and that it was boring because I repeated the same exercise every time. However, I focused on rehabilitation only thinking about the day I would go back to the mound. While I was away, other starting pitchers were also out of the rotation, and Kim Do-hyun and Hwang Dong-ha took over, and I am grateful to the two players who were very helpful to the team.” 토토사이트
Having swallowed his disappointment, the baby tiger’s next goal is to take the mound in the Korean Series. “Playing in the Korean Series itself is a huge experience for me at my age. Regardless of the pressure, I want to take the mound under any position,” Yoon said. “Short-term matches like the Korean Series require good results regardless of the process. There is nothing I want to do (whether it be a strikeout or a winning pitcher). Confidence will increase only when the result comes out, but things don’t go as well as people want. That’s why I try to throw as hard as I can.”
In that sense, the day when he was able to throw in front of a full crowd of 20,500 people was very meaningful to Yoon Young-chul. “I thought that the performance should not be changed because there are many spectators. So I didn’t care much about the fact that many fans came, but I felt really good (without realizing) when there were cheers and applause,” he said with a big smile.
“I could have thrown more, but the coach told me not to overdo it because I have another appearance. I followed the coach’s words because there are many more chances to throw if I enter the Korean Series entry, not just today anyway. There is not much time left for the regular season, but I still have a bigger goal of the Korean Series, so I will prepare well until the end,” he said.
