"Congratulations, HYUNJIN". Did you watch Hanwha game in the morning... Ryu Hyun-jin took 1,500K despite the pain of 'knee surgery → season out.'

*This content was translated by AI.

The love between the Hanwha Eagles and Ryu Hyun-jin (39) of "Daejeon's high salary" Cody Ponce (32, Toronto Blue Jays) remained.

Ryu Hyun-jin started in an away game against SSG Landers in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular season at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on the 7th and led Hanwha to a 6-2 victory with four hits, two walks, 10 strikeouts and two runs in six innings.

Korean Monster has made a milestone since the first episode. Ryu Hyun-jin struck out Guillermo Herredia on three pitches in the bottom of the first inning to succeed in 1,500 strikeouts for the seventh time in the KBO league. Not long after Hanwha's victory, a familiar SNS notification appeared to Hanwha fans. It was a post by Ponce, the league MVP who led Hanwha to the first Korean Series in 19 years last year.

Ponce congratulated Ryu on his 1,500K strikeout, saying, "Congrats Chung," tagging the accounts of Ryu Hyun-jin and Hanwha on his SNS. Even a minor post showed affection. I wrote my Korean brother in English, and the time I posted it was early in the morning even in Toronto or LA, USA. It also means that he has been preparing for the Hanwha game since the morning.

Ponce's affection for Hanwha and Ryu Hyun-jin was well known to Korean baseball fans. Ponce, who first encountered the KBO League with South Korea through Hanwha last year, was active in 29 regular-season games with 17 wins and 1 loss with a 1.89 ERA and 252 strikeouts in 180 ⅔ innings. Along with Ryan Weiss (30, Houston Astros), he led Hanwha to the first Korean Series in 19 years, and won the league MVP by becoming the first four-time foreign pitcher in the KBO (multiple wins, ERA, strikeouts, and winning percentage).

He also showed strong respect for Ryu Hyun-jin, a senior major leaguer. He tried to learn something from Ryu Hyun-jin by calling him an older brother every day, and eventually pretended to be Ryu Hyun-jin in last year's All-Star Game.

At that time, Ponce took the mound wearing a Toronto uniform with 99th number, which was signed directly by Ryu Hyun-jin. Soon, he wore a glove on his right hand, followed Ryu Hyun-jin's pitching form, and pitched with his left hand, drawing laughter from fans.

Based on last year's performance, he joined Toronto, where his idol Ryu Hyun-jin played. He also showed his affection for Ryu Hyun-jin. In December last year, Ponce appeared on the famous American podcast Paul Terry and expressed his affection, saying, "Ryu Hyun-jin treated me warmly like my own brother."

Ryu Hyun-jin showed his best pitching as a big brother respected by major leaguers. The opponent was SSG, which was leading the game with an average of 8.5 points per game and 7 wins and 1 loss. However, veteran Ryu Hyun-jin threw a fastball (41 pitches) with a maximum speed of 146 kilometers per hour, change-up (18 pitches), cutter (13 pitches), curve (13 pitches), and sweeper (8 pitches) in addition, it was a fall foliage.

Ryu Hyun-jin's 1,500 strikeouts in the KBO are the oldest ever at 39 years and 13 days, beating Song Jin-woo (36 years, 5 months and 26 days at the time) in 2002. In addition, he also set a record for the smallest game in the category with 1,500 strikeouts in 246 games. The previous record is a 55-game cut from former coach Sun Dong-yeol's 301 games in 1994, which is possible only when he catches an average of 150 each season.

In addition, for the first time since returning to Korea, he also enjoyed the joy of 10 strikeouts in a game in 14 years in the KBO League. Ryu Hyun-jin's last 10 strikeouts in one game in the KBO League was 4,933 days after the Nexen Heroes match (one run and 12 strikeouts in 10 innings) on October 4, 2012. Based on regular innings, it was the first time in 4,861 days since the game against the Lotte Giants (three runs and 10 strikeouts in nine innings) on July 24, 2012.

Hanwha fans expressed their joy and affection on his SNS at the same time as Ponce, who took care of his former club in a difficult situation. Ponce was diagnosed with a sprained right anterior cruciate ligament after falling heavily during defense in a regular-season home game against the Colorado Rockies on the 31st of last month.

It was such a dizzying injury that he soon moved to the 60-day injured list (IL) and had to meet Dr. Neil Elatrice, a sports medicine authority in the western United States. In the end, the surgery was not avoided. On the morning of the 8th, Major League website MLB.com reported that Ponce will undergo knee surgery and that he will have to undergo at least six months of rehabilitation.

In his first season after returning with a booming dream, he came to accept the news that he was out of the season. After the announcement of the surgery, Ponce wrote on his SNS, "The journey did not begin the way I expected it to. But I really love this team and the brotherhood we have."

"I'm so excited to be here and I'm so happy to be a part of Toronto. I can't wait to be with you again at Rogers Centre. The best trilogy always starts with a twist," he said, ending with a Star Wars fanatic expression.

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*This content was translated by AI.