'ERA 16.88' KIA Tigers right-hander Jeong Hae-young, who was removed from the 1st team roster, struggled in his second appearance with the 2nd team, allowing three hits and one run over one inning, but secured a narrow victory thanks to support from his team's offense.

*This content was translated by AI.

Jeong Hae-young (25), a right-handed pitcher for the KIA Tigers, who was removed from the 1st team roster due to a poor ERA of 16.88, faced a tense situation during his second live practice game in the Futures League (2nd team). Although he failed to maintain the lead, he became a lucky winning pitcher thanks to assistance from his team's batting lineup.

On the 20th, Jeong Hae-young appeared as the team's fourth pitcher in a home game against the Doosan Bears at Hampyeong Challenger Field in the 2026 KBO Futures League, recording one inning with three hits, one walk, and one run allowed.

In the bottom of the 8th inning, with the team leading 5-4, Jeong Hae-young, who took on the setup man role and stepped onto the mound, showed signs of unease from the start. After allowing a hit to leadoff batter Park Seong-jae to left-center field, a fielding error by the center fielder compounded the situation, putting him in a no-out, second-base crisis. Following a one-out, third-base situation, he surrendered a two-run single to Park Min-jun to left-center field, tying the score at 5-5.

The struggles continued afterward. He allowed a ground ball single to Oh Myung-jin and issued a walk to Jeon Da-min, creating a one-out, bases-loaded situation with the opposing team taking the lead. However, he managed to escape the inning without further runs by getting Kim Jun-sang to hit a ground ball to the shortstop and Hong Seong-ho to fly out to the second baseman. Jeong Hae-young threw 27 pitches in total, with 16 strikes.

In the bottom of the 8th inning, the team's offense scored three runs, including a two-run double by Jeong Hae-won, giving KIA an 8-5 victory and earning Jeong Hae-young the win. However, it is expected that more time will be needed to address Jeong Hae-young's severe slump, which saw him removed from the 1st team roster on the 11th after posting an ERA of 16.88 and a WHIP of 2.63 in the 1st team.

Earlier, on the 18th, Jeong Hae-young recorded a scoreless inning in his first appearance against Doosan in the Futures League. After a day of rest, he successfully adjusted his form in his second live practice, but he continued to allow baserunners and failed to dominate batters in scoring position, reaffirming "mental stability" as a key challenge once again.

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*This content was translated by AI.