Veteran pitcher Song Eun-beom (40), who is starting anew with the Samsung Lions, is quickly regaining his sense of practice and raising the possibility of returning to the first team.
Song took the mound as the team’s third pitcher at a 2024 MediHill KBO Futures League match held at Sangmu Baseball Stadium in Mungyeong, North Gyeongsang Province on Sunday, and pitched well by allowing three hits, one strikeout and no run in two innings. Samsung won the game 6-1 by banking on five runs and a big inning in the third inning.
Song Eun-beom, who recorded two hits, one strikeout and no run in two innings against the NC Dinos’ second team on July 30, showed off his robustness by playing multiple innings in two consecutive games.
He got off to a shaky start. Taking the mound in the bottom of the sixth inning with his team leading 5-1, Song rushed to the first and second bases with no outs after consecutive hits by Park Sung-jae and Cho Se-jin.
The veteran player’s true value was displayed at a moment of crisis. Song handled a fly ball to right field with Ryu Hyun-in as a pinch hitter in two pitches, and Ryu grounded out to the first base to grab his second out count. Meanwhile, runners advanced one base at a time, with runners on the second and third bases loaded, with two outs. At a time of losing points, Song allowed a 1-2 advantage against Han Tae-yang and ended the inning by swinging and striking out.
Taking the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning, Song was hit to the left by leadoff hitter Park Jung-hyun. The batters for the first base with no outs were Han Dong-hee, the third hitter, and Lee Jae-won, the fourth hitter, who have been hitting hard since joining the military. Song treated Han Dong-hee with a fly ball to the right field after two pitches. He then induced Lee Jae-won to hit a ground ball to the shortstop on the first pitch, which was a double play. He only had five pitches to clean up the first inning.
Song Eun-beom, who joined the SK Wyverns (currently SSG Landers) as the first pick of the 2003 rookie draft, is a veteran pitcher with 88 wins, 95 losses, 27 saves and an ERA of 4.57 in 680 KBO league games. During his time at SK (2003-2013), he played a leading role in the dynasty and wore uniforms for four teams, including the KIA Tigers (2013-2014), the Hanwha Eagles (2015-2019), and the LG Twins (2019-2023). 메이저놀이터
Song, who allowed one run in three ⅔ innings in four games at LG last year, was removed from the list of players withheld in November. Since then, Song has applied for a tryout program of “The Greatest Baseball League,” drawing keen attention. Song still showed off his sharp ball power in the tryout, but failed to pass the final round.
After failing the “strongest baseball” tryout, Song Eun-beom surprised everyone with the news of joining Samsung. On the 25th, Samsung announced, “To strengthen the bullpen, we signed a contract with Song Eun-beom for an annual salary of 50 million won and an option of 30 million won for the rest of this season.” According to the Samsung club, Song Eun-beom had already joined the Gyeongsan Ballpark rehabilitation team in mid-May and was conducting systematic training, and passed the club’s final test through ball power check and live pitching in mid-July.
Samsung, which had the lowest ERA (5.12) in the bullpen last year, has strengthened its bullpen by recruiting veteran pitchers such as Kim Jae-yoon and Lim Chang-min ahead of the 2024 season. Samsung ranked third (4.69) in the bullpen average ERA league until June this season, and seemed to be benefiting from recruiting the bullpen, but its back door was shaken sharply due to the lowest ERA (7.04), in July. Samsung desperately needed to strengthen its bullpen, eventually pulled out Song Eun-beom’s card, which was recovering his old form.
Song Eun-beom left a regret by allowing three hits and two runs in one inning against the KIA Tigers in the Futures League on July 27, his first real appearance since joining Samsung. Song Eun-beom, who took his second appearance against NC on July 30, won the hold with two scoreless innings, recording a maximum speed of 142km/h. Song Eun-beom, whose uniform number has also changed from 107 to 64 since his first scoreless game, is gradually increasing his chances of a first-team call-up by pitching two scoreless innings in two consecutive games until his third appearance against Sangmu on the 6th.
