Another 'new history' has been born in the KBO League! The great pitcher Yang Hyeon-jong of KIA is now heading toward the all-time KBO wins leader.

*This content was translated by AI.

KIA Tigers ace pitcher Yang Hyeon-jong (38) has set another monumental milestone in KBO League history. He achieved the historic record of 2,200 career strikeouts, a feat no one in league history has ever reached.

On the 25th, Yang Hyeon-jong started against the Lotte Giants in a regular-season home game at Gwangju-KIA Champions Field. He struck out the leadoff batter, Han Tae-yang, in the top of the first inning, recording his 2,200th career strikeout.

KIA won the game 4-3. Ultimately, Yang Hyeon-jong pitched 5 innings, allowing 4 hits (including 1 home run), issuing 2 walks, striking out 5 batters, and giving up 3 runs (1 earned), securing his second win of the season (2 losses).

Entering the game with 2,199 strikeouts, Yang Hyeon-jong became the owner of this historic record by striking out the first batter immediately after the game began. He did not stop there, striking out subsequent batters Victor Reyes and Jeon Jun-woo to record all three outs in the top of the first inning via strikeouts. He added two more strikeouts later in the game before finishing his pitching performance.

Yang Hyeon-jong, who was selected as the first overall pick in the second round of the 2007 KIA draft, has served as a representative pitcher of Korean baseball.

On August 21, 2024, Yang Hyeon-jong surpassed Song Jin-woo (2,048 strikeouts), known as the 'living legend of Korean baseball,' to take the top spot in all-time KBO strikeouts. He has now reached the 2,200-strikeout plateau approximately one year and eight months later.

Yang Hyeon-jong is currently the only pitcher in the KBO League to have surpassed 2,100 strikeouts. The second all-time, Song Jin-woo, is already retired. Among active players, the pitcher closest to Yang Hyeon-jong is SSG Landers ace Kim Kwang-hyun (2,020 strikeouts). There is still a gap of over 180 strikeouts. Especially since Kim Kwang-hyun has recently been sidelined due to a shoulder injury, Yang Hyeon-jong's solo lead is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.

Furthermore, if Yang Hyeon-jong records triple-digit strikeouts again this season, he will extend his own record for the 'longest consecutive seasons with triple-digit strikeouts in KBO history' to 12 seasons.

Additionally, Yang Hyeon-jong ranks first among active players and second all-time in both career wins (188) and innings pitched (2,682). He is chasing the records of Song Jin-woo, who holds the all-time top spot with 210 wins and 3,003 innings.

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*This content was translated by AI.