'How could this be?' Kim Seo-hyun, who refused to modify his pitching form, now achieves a scoreless outing in the Futures League with a 'KKK'... But what about the occurrence of a walk, a hit-by-pitch, and an error?

*This content was translated by AI.

Kim Seo-hyun (22), who served as the closer for the Hanwha Eagles, recorded a scoreless outing in the Futures League. However, he continued to struggle with control, allowing three walks and one error over two innings.

On the 4th, Kim Seo-hyun appeared as the third reliever in a 2026 Medihill KBO Futures League home game against the Sangmu Baseball Team at Seosan Stadium in Chungcheongnam-do. Facing 10 batters over two innings, he allowed two hits, issued two walks, hit one batter, and recorded three strikeouts, completing a scoreless outing. His total pitch count was 37.

Kim Seo-hyun took over the mound in the bottom of the fifth inning with the team trailing 1-4 and two outs with a runner on second base. Immediately after taking the mound, he allowed a hit to Go Young-woo. However, he struck out the seventh batter, Yang Do-geun, preventing any additional runs.

Kim Seo-hyun returned to the mound in the sixth inning. He started well by striking out the leadoff batter, Kim Byung-jun. He allowed a left-field single to Lee Seung-won, bringing a runner on base, but then struck out Lee Sang-hyeok and induced a groundout to the shortstop from Park Gwan-woo to close out the inning.

Kim Seo-hyun's pitching did not end there. He took the mound again in the seventh inning. He issued a walk to leadoff batter Jang Jae-young but induced a double play at shortstop from Yeo Dong-geon, quickly recording two outs. After issuing another walk to Lee Yul-ye, Kim Seo-hyun hit Go Young-woo with a pitch. He also committed one error in the seventh inning. His pitching for the day ended there. Kim Seo-hyun's successor, Won Jong-hyeok, struck out Yang Do-geun, allowing Kim Seo-hyun to maintain a scoreless record with zero earned runs for the day.

After this game, Kim Seo-hyun's Futures League statistics stood at nine appearances, one save, one hold, and an ERA of 5.73. Over a total of 11 innings, he recorded nine hits allowed (one home run), nine walks, three hit-by-pitches, 17 strikeouts, seven runs allowed (seven earned runs), and a batting average against of 0.225.

On the 2nd of last month, Kim Seo-hyun struggled against the Doosan Bears Futures Team, allowing two hits, one walk, and two strikeouts over two innings while surrendering three runs (three earned). However, he succeeded in recording three consecutive scoreless outings against Doosan on the 4th, SSG Landers on the 16th, and SSG again on the 18th.

Kim Seo-hyun struggled again on the 23rd against the LG Twins Futures Team, allowing two hits, two walks, one hit-by-pitch, and two strikeouts over one inning while surrendering two runs (two earned). He recorded two consecutive scoreless outings against LG on the 25th and KIA Tigers on the 27th, but showed poor form against KT Wiz on the 31st, allowing three hits (one home run), one walk, and one strikeout over one inning while surrendering two runs (two earned). Although he succeeded in a scoreless outing on this day, he once again exposed difficulties with his control.

In fact, without Kim Seo-hyun last season, Hanwha's playoff push would not have been easy. In the 2025 season, he appeared in 69 games, recording two wins, four losses, 33 saves, two holds, and an ERA of 3.14. Over a total of 66 innings, he achieved 52 hits allowed (four home runs), 31 walks, eight hit-by-pitches, 71 strikeouts, 23 runs allowed (23 earned runs), demonstrating his best growth trajectory.

Kim Seo-hyun, who had such a strong performance, has been somewhat sluggish this season. In 12 appearances this season, all as a reliever, he has recorded one win, two losses, one save, and an ERA of 12.38. Over a total of eight innings, he has allowed nine hits (one home run), issued 15 walks, recorded five strikeouts, surrendered 12 runs (11 earned), posted an on-base plus slugging per inning (WHIP) of 3.00, and a batting average against of 0.281.

As a result, he was removed from the first-division roster on April 27. After regrouping in the Futures League, he was called back to the first division ahead of the Gwangju KIA Tigers game on May 7. However, he failed to record a single out, allowing two hits, one walk, and one hit-by-pitch while surrendering four runs (three earned), showing poor form. Consequently, he was excluded from the first-division roster again on the 13th.

At the time of his removal, Hanwha manager Kim Kyung-moon told reporters regarding Kim Seo-hyun: "If he can convince himself whether to slightly adjust his form or not, we can discuss it with the coaches. If he cannot, it will be a difficult situation." He added, "Since he is losing his control while pitching, I told him to go to the minor league and take ample time." When asked about whether he had implemented changes to his pitching form in the minor league, he stated, "No. It is about control first. We will consider whether to call him up based on his performance in games."

Recently, Kim Byung-hyun, a living legend of Korean baseball known as 'BK', shared advice on his YouTube channel, saying, "I shouldn't say this, but I will offer some harsh words. If you want to pitch with your own form, just pitch well. But if the team is shaken, the fans who support you are shaken, and you are shaken as well, what could happen if you continue pitching with this form? You could get broken, snapped, or torn." He continued, "You don't have to pitch right now. The team is doing very well without Kim Seo-hyun. Don't rush. I want to tell him to wait a little while until he has time to calmly and coldly see reality."

Hanwha is currently engaged in a fierce battle for a mid-tier ranking this season as Kim Seo-hyun has yet to firmly establish himself. To gain more momentum as the season nears its end, Kim Seo-hyun must ultimately revive his form. When will Kim Seo-hyun show the same dominance as last season in the Futures League?

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*This content was translated by AI.