'Wa' and Lotte were worth the wait! From his first appearance, he delivered a brilliant 3⅔-inning scoreless performance, quickly erasing the memory of the 'dizziness' incident involving 156 km/h foreign pitcher Jeremy Wisely. [Busan Field Report]

*This content was translated by AI.

It was a pitching performance that made the earlier situation seem forgotten. Lotte Giants veteran right-hander Hyun Do-hoon (33) delivered his best pitching in the long-awaited first appearance of the season, offering hope.

On the 18th, Lotte suffered a 0-5 complete defeat against Hanwha Eagles in a 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular-season home game held at Busan Sajik Baseball Stadium, with a total attendance of 23,200 spectators.

The game was completely dominated by Hanwha's starting pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin. Ryu pitched 7 innings, allowing 4 hits, 0 walks, and striking out 3 batters without surrendering a run, overwhelming Lotte's batters. An unexpected setback also struck Lotte. In the bottom of the 3rd inning with one out and runners on second base, starting pitcher Jeremy Wisely (31) voluntarily requested to be removed due to dizziness.

Wisely had been pitching well, throwing fastballs averaging 154 km/h and reaching up to 156 km/h. However, during a wild pitch in the bottom of the 3rd inning with one out and runners on second base, he sprinted to cover the plate and began gasping for breath. After allowing a two-run double to the center field by Kang Baek-ho, he signaled to the bench for his own substitution and was replaced by Hyun Do-hoon. A Lotte club official stated, "Player Wisely experienced dizziness symptoms and was substituted for management purposes. He is now resting and his condition has improved."

Amid a situation where the game could have become one-sided, Hyun Do-hoon delivered his best pitching. On this day, Hyun Do-hoon used his 137 km/h cutter (20 pitches) as his primary weapon, mixing in 146 km/h fastballs (15 pitches), forkballs (8 pitches), sweepers (7 pitches), and curveballs (3 pitches), throwing a total of 53 pitches to keep Hanwha's batters from making solid contact.

He remained unfazed by the crisis. Hyun Do-hoon induced a groundout to shortstop from Chae Eun-seong, then forced a weak hit from Lee Do-yoon with an outside pitch. He directly caught the ball that struck the end of the bat and threw it to first base, preventing a potential run-scoring crisis.

Stable pitching continued afterward. His composure on this day was no less than that of the opposing Ryu Hyun-jin. Although Hyun Do-hoon allowed hits to Choi Jae-hoon and Lee Won-seok in the 4th inning, he struck out Shim Woo-jun with a swing-and-miss and recorded an out on a fly ball to center field by Yonatan Ferraz, surrendering no runs. He finished the 5th inning with just 12 pitches and successfully recorded a three-up, three-down inning in the 6th.

After graduating from Sinil Middle School, Hyun Do-hoon left for Japan to study baseball at Kyoto International High School. Even after graduating from Kyushu Koritsu University, he failed to enter the professional ranks. Eventually, after playing for the independent league team Paju Challengers, he made his KBO League debut in 2018 when he joined Doosan Bears as a developmental player.

After completing his military service, he rejoined Doosan but suffered the pain of being released once again. Lotte was the team that gave him another chance. After joining the team in the 2023 season, he appeared in the most games (8) in 2024, but did not appear in the first team in the previous year.

Just like his career filled with twists and turns, this year also brought many stories. From his first appearance in the Futures League, Hyun Do-hoon secured a quality start and a win against Ulsan Whales, pitching 6⅓ innings without allowing a run. Since then, he has consistently delivered stable performances, recording 2 wins and 1 loss in 4 Futures League games, with an earned run average of 2.95, 17 strikeouts in 18⅓ innings, and a batting average against of 0.185.

This was the performance Lotte had been waiting for. According to a Lotte club official, Hyun Do-hoon's call-up was considered multiple times due to his impressive performances in the Futures League. However, each time, appearances were delayed due to weather or team circumstances. Even after being added to the roster on the 14th, it took four days until this day for him to realize his dream of making his first appearance of the season. Lotte was also able to minimize bullpen usage thanks to Hyun Do-hoon's ability to pitch long innings.

Last month, after becoming the winning pitcher in his first appearance against Ulsan, Hyun Do-hoon expressed excitement to reporters, saying, "I'm glad the first button was buttoned well. It would be even better if I could perform with this feeling in the first team."

And that wish was fulfilled without too much delay, in a home stadium filled to capacity.

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*This content was translated by AI.