'Oops' An Woo-jin's unexpected 'post-4th inning' sudden substitution. What happened? → Manager reveals future pitching plans

*This content was translated by AI.

An Woo-jin (Kiwoom Heroes), the KBO League's top ace, came off the mound sooner than expected. The unexpected reason for the substitution was the sudden appearance of blisters on his hand.

On the 26th, An Woo-jin started against the KIA Tigers in a regular-season home game at Seoul Gocheok Sky Dome, delivering a scoreless performance with 4 innings, 1 hit allowed, 2 walks, and 4 strikeouts. His fastball reached a maximum speed of 159 km/h.

Before the game, Kiwoom manager Seol Jong-jin stated regarding An Woo-jin, "We plan to have him throw around 80 to 85 pitches over 5 to 6 innings if possible," and added, "If there are no major injuries, we plan to meet that pitch count." Regarding the plan to start twice a week, he said, "We have no such plan yet. We haven't thought that far ahead." Accordingly, Park Jun-hyun is scheduled to start in the game against KT Wiz at home on the 31st.

On this day, An Woo-jin struck out leadoff batter Park Jae-hyun for an out, then induced Kim Ho-ryeong to fly out to left field. He allowed a double to Kim Do-young through the middle of the infield. This was An Woo-jin's only hit allowed on the day. He then retired Adehrin, who came to the plate next, with a looking strikeout to close the first inning.

In the second inning, he walked leadoff batter Kim Sun-bin with a straight pitch and then walked Na Sung-beom on the seventh pitch, putting himself in a no-out, first-and-second-base situation. However, he retired Kim Kyu-seong with a looking strikeout, Kim Tae-gun with a line drive to center field, and Park Min with a ground ball to first base, continuing his scoreless streak.

Both the third and fourth innings ended with three up, three down. In the third, he retired Park Jae-hyun, Kim Ho-ryeong, and Kim Do-young all with fly outs to right field. In the fourth, he retired leadoff batter Adehrin with a fly out to center field and Kim Sun-bin with a fly out to left field, then retired Na Sung-beom with a swinging strikeout.

After facing 15 batters through the fourth inning, An Woo-jin's pitch count was 61. However, the pitcher who took the mound in the fifth was not An Woo-jin, but Kim Sung-jin. It was a sudden substitution, and there was a reason. A Kiwoom official explained the reason for the substitution, saying, "We substituted him to protect the player due to blisters on his right index and middle fingers."

After finishing the game today, An Woo-jin's record for the season stands at 7 appearances, 1 win, 2 losses, and an ERA of 2.25. Over a total of 24 innings, he recorded 18 hits allowed (1 home run allowed), 7 walks, 31 strikeouts, 7 runs allowed (6 earned runs), a WHIP of 1.04, and a batting average against of 0.200.

Coincidentally, Kiwoom lost 2-5 after Kim Sung-jin, who took over after An Woo-jin, struggled over 2 innings, allowing 4 hits and 2 runs.

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

*This content was translated by AI.