Lotte's second-tier pitcher and Australian No. 4 hitter-92 home run big guns are 'no hit and no silence'... "It's perfect for the first team, too.""

*This content was translated by AI.

Lotte Giants veteran right-hander Hyun Do-hoon (33) announced a pleasant start with a quality start from the first game of the 2026 season.

Hyun Do-hoon took the mound as the starting pitcher against Ulsan Wales in the opening game of the 2026 Medi Hill KBO Futures League at Munsu Baseball Stadium in Ulsan on the 20th and led Lotte to a 3-1 victory with one hit, two walks and five strikeouts in six ⅓ innings.

The opponent on this day was Ulsan Wales, which played its first game as the KBO's first civic team. Most of the players were released players or those who failed to join the KBO, but the clean-up was not at a level to be ignored. The first and second starters were Akitake Okada and Juyi Kobayashi, both former members of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).

They were Alex Hall, the fourth batter and main catcher of the Australian national baseball team, Kim Dong-yeop, a slugger with 92 home runs in the KBO, and Bae Sang-kwon, who played in 196 games in the first division. In particular, Hall was a batter with strong long balls that hit home runs against Hiroto Takahashi (Chunichi Dragons) and Moon Dong-ju (Hanwha Eagles) in the World Baseball Classic (WBC).

However, Hall and Kim Dong-yeop were helpless against Hyun Do-hoon. Hall grounded out to first base in his first at-bat in the top of the first inning and struck out in the third inning. Even the last at-bat was handled as a straight hit to the second baseman, and he couldn't score a hit in the end.

Kim Dong-yeop and Bae Sang-kwon, who drew a walk and a heavy hit in their first at-bat, were rather better. Even they contributed to the defeat by not sending the ball to the outfield after hitting only ground balls and infield fly balls.

After the game, Hyun Do-hoon said, "Kim Dong-yeop, who was the fourth batter, is so strong and powerful that he thought it would be a big deal if he threw a real pitch, so I think he kept running away," adding, "The hole that he hit three times is also known to some extent, so the power analysis team told him that it is dangerous to throw anywhere." (Park) Jae-yeop also talked a lot, so throwing the autograph as soon as he signed it led to good results," he said.

He was responsible for more than six innings, showing impressive pitching to other players. In response, Hyun Do-hoon said, "It was also difficult in the middle. Coach Kim Hyun-wook asked me to do one more inning and one more batter, so I squeezed it and threw it hard."

"I knew today's game was important to the opponent (20th), but I threw it so that I wouldn't be embarrassed by those who supported me and were grateful because baseball was all the same. I was originally physically strong and I think I was lucky because I picked up a lot of trash," he laughed.

Hyun Do-hoon is a player who has had quite an ups and downs career. After graduating from Shinil Middle School, he went to Japan to study and graduated from Kyoto International High School, which is famous for winning Koshien. After graduating from Kyushu Koritz University, he failed to enter the professional stage and continued his career with the Paju Challengers, an independent baseball team.

He joined the Doosan Bears as a nurturing player in 2018 and also made the first-team stage. After completing his military service, he joined Doosan again through a tryout test and was released after the 2022 season.

Lotte was the team that gave him another chance. After joining the team in the 2023 season, he played in eight games, the most in 2024, but failed to make the first team stage last year. That's how desperate he is to return to the KBO league.

Hyun Do-hoon said, "I would have been in big trouble if the first button went wrong. But I'm glad it came in well. With this feeling, I think it would be perfect to do it in the first team," he said with strength.

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*This content was translated by AI.