'Four surgeries, spent 11 years in the U.S.' Ryu Hyun-jin achieves 200 career wins in Korea and the U.S. ... Only 10 wins remain to make 'a new Korean history'

*This content was translated by AI.

Ryu Hyun-jin (39, Hanwha Eagles) has achieved an unprecedented feat. He now needs just 10 more wins to reach Song Jin-woo (60), the all-time wins leader in Korea, who holds 210 wins.

On the 24th, Ryu Hyun-jin started against the Doosan Bears at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in a 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League home game. He pitched 6⅔ innings, throwing 104 pitches, allowing 6 hits, no walks, striking out 3 batters, and giving up 2 earned runs in a strong performance.

Ryu Hyun-jin exited with his team leading 5-2. The bullpen preserved the three-run lead, securing Ryu's fifth win of the season (with two losses), his 121st career win in the KBO League, and his 200th combined win in Korea and the U.S.

While Song Jin-woo holds the record for the most wins by a Korean pitcher in professional baseball, Ryu Hyun-jin's 78 wins in the Big Leagues, where the world's best batters gather, carry unique significance. Even if each win is valued equally, Ryu now needs only 10 more wins to surpass Song Jin-woo's record. It appears he could break the record as early as this season.

Behind Ryu Hyun-jin are Yang Hyeon-jong (38, KIA) and Kim Kwang-hyun (38, SSG). Yang Hyeon-jong has 189 wins, while Kim Kwang-hyun, who is currently in rehabilitation following shoulder surgery, has 190 wins (180 in Korea, 10 in the U.S.). Although Ryu Hyun-jin is a year senior, his consistently outstanding performance makes a comeback by the others unlikely.

After graduating from Dongsan High School, Ryu Hyun-jin was selected as the second pick in the second round of the 2006 KBO Rookie Draft by Hanwha. From his debut season, he won 18 games, sweeping the Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards alongside the pitching Triple Crown.

Ryu Hyun-jin played seven seasons in the KBO League, accumulating 98 wins, before moving to Major League Baseball (MLB) in 2013. He won 28 games in his first two seasons, establishing himself as the ace of the Los Angeles Dodgers. However, he endured difficult times starting with a critical shoulder labrum surgery in 2015, followed by surgery to remove necrotic tissue from his left elbow in 2016, and a second elbow ligament reconstruction surgery (Tommy John surgery) in 2022, continuing from his high school days.

Despite this, Ryu Hyun-jin successfully made a comeback multiple times. In 2019, he posted a 14-5 record with a 2.32 ERA, delivering top-tier MLB performance. He ranked first in the league in ERA and finished second in the National League Cy Young Award voting.

After becoming a free agent (FA) at the end of the season, Ryu Hyun-jin signed a four-year, $80 million (approximately 121.1 billion won) contract with the Toronto Blue Jays. After spending four more seasons, he returned to Hanwha with a career MLB record of 78 wins.

Hanwha offered Ryu Hyun-jin an eight-year contract worth a total of 17 billion won, the highest in the league at the time. It was widely known that it would be no easy feat for a pitcher, not even a position player, to play until age 44 at 37 years old. Nevertheless, Hanwha highly valued Ryu Hyun-jin's symbolic significance and proposed an unbelievable contract.

On April 30 of that year, during a game against the Daejeon SSG Landers, Ryu Hyun-jin recorded his 100th career win in the KBO League. He earned 10 wins in 2024 and narrowly missed double-digit wins last season, but lowered his ERA from 3.87 to 3.23, demonstrating his continued strength. This season, he continues to deliver even more perfect performances, seemingly defying time.

In his previous eight games, Ryu Hyun-jin had a 4-2 record with a 3.52 ERA, delivering the most impressive performances in the Hanwha starting rotation alongside Wang Yencheng. On this day, he started with a quick three-up, three-down inning in the first, then pitched a perfect game through four innings with one out.

He allowed his first hit to Park Ji-hoon in the fourth inning but cleanly retired the side thereafter. He again retired the side in order in the fifth inning, securing the conditions for a win.

With one out in the sixth inning, he allowed a triple to Jung Soobin. A fastball thrown to Park Chan-ho hit the middle of the plate, resulting in one run. He returned in the seventh inning and retired two batters. However, he then allowed three consecutive hits and eventually handed the ball to Kim Jong-soo with two outs and runners on first and second. Kim Jong-soo induced a fielder's choice groundout from Jung Soobin, preserving Ryu Hyun-jin's win condition.

The bullpen's contribution was also significant. Starting with Kim Jong-soo, the team faced a bases-loaded, no-out crisis in the eighth inning, but Kim Jong-soo held the line without allowing a run. Park Sang-won, who entered in the ninth, initially brought on a bases-loaded, no-out crisis with three consecutive hits but then retired the next three batters on weak contact, securing the victory.

Thanks to his strong performance today, Ryu Hyun-jin lowered his ERA to 3.42 and maintained his second-place standing in wins. His batting average against is 0.240 (fourth), and his walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) is 1.04, showcasing even more impressive detailed statistics and raising further expectations.

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.