"If you're a catcher, you have to catch that." Ryu Hyun-jin's biting joke erases the misfortune of errors, cementing his status as the '7-win ace'

*This content was translated by AI.

"I believe that if you're a catcher, you have to catch something like that."

He has already secured seven wins. While showing the luckiest season in the KBO League, Ryu Hyun-jin (39, Hanwha Eagles) is focusing not just on win totals but on building a more complete team.

On the 5th, Ryu Hyun-jin started against the Lotte Giants at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League away game, throwing 86 pitches over six innings for a perfect outing with three hits allowed, no walks, two strikeouts, and two runs allowed (both unearned).

With solid support from the lineup, he earned his seventh victory (two losses). Even before reaching the halfway point of the season, he is quickly catching up to last year's win total (nine wins). With this win, he also tied for first place in wins.

He was the king of efficient pitching. Ryu Hyun-jin pitched perfectly through the third inning but allowed a run in the fourth due to bad luck. He struck out Go Seung-min with a sweeper breaking outside, but catcher Choi Jae-hoon failed to catch it, allowing the batter to reach first base on a strike-and-out. He induced a ground ball to the shortstop from Victor Reyes to retire the lead runner, seemingly catching his breath, but with two outs and a runner on first, Moon Hyun-bin failed to field a ball hit to the left side by Kim Min-seong, allowing the runner to score.

Ryu Hyun-jin expressed some regret but remained composed. He used his signature outside changeup against Son Ho-young to induce a ground ball to the shortstop and close the inning.

Ryu Hyun-jin retired the side in order in the fifth, throwing only 63 pitches. He got two outs easily in the sixth as well, but bad luck struck again. Shortstop Sim Woo-jun failed to field a ground ball from Reyes, allowing a runner to reach base, and he gave up a double to Na Seung-yeop, allowing another run after the fourth inning. This time, it was not recorded as an earned run, but it was still regrettable. He ended his pitching for the day by throwing a cutter high and outside to Kim Min-seong, inducing a swinging strikeout.

Over his last three games, he has displayed aggressive and efficient pitching, allowing only one walk. His pitch count naturally had to decrease. Although his fastball reached a top speed of 148 km/h today, which was not enough to overpower batters, he combined precise control, aggressive pitching based on that control, and deceptive breaking balls to execute smart pitching.

Most importantly, he was incredibly aggressive, recording 60 strikes out of 86 pitches, accounting for 69.8%. If his pitch count had not risen to 23 due to defensive errors in the sixth inning, he would have been fully capable of pitching into the seventh.

In 11 games, he has pitched 63⅔ innings with a record of 7 wins and 2 losses, lowering his ERA to 2.97. Among pitchers who have met the qualification innings, he ranks third in ERA. By minimizing walks with concise pitching, he holds the second-best WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched) at 1.01.

Despite the disappointing defense, Ryu Hyun-jin remained unfazed. After the game, regarding Moon Hyun-bin's fielding error in the fourth that led to the first run, Ryu said, "The ball went into the corner (of the glove), so anyone could have had trouble with that. If it goes into the corner, it's not easy for anyone to catch. I don't mind things like that." He added, "I was just a bit disappointed that the game was tied."

However, before that, he offered some sharp words to catcher Choi Jae-hoon regarding the situation where he struck out a batter but still allowed a runner to reach base on a fielder's choice. Choi, who has not played many games this season, failed to properly catch the sweeper, Ryu's new signature pitch. Ryu emphasized, "He lies, saying it curved more than he expected, but if you're a catcher, you have to catch something like that."

Ryu Hyun-jin, who had been cautious about mentioning teammates' mistakes, smiled and said, "I think it's okay to say a little now." Choi Jae-hoon is Ryu's primary catcher. It was a sincere piece of advice, reflecting their close relationship but also his hope that, as a veteran, Choi would play more steadily.

Ryu Hyun-jin also stated that he is not particularly concerned about titles. Even though he is tied for first in wins, he said, "I haven't thought about titles at all. Since my scores tend to be high when I pitch, I've been pitching comfortably lately." He explained, "That allows me to battle batters with a faster count, and as a result, my efficient pitching is working well."

He continued, "If I start every game, I prepare to pitch at least six innings with minimal runs, focusing only on the role I can fulfill."

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*This content was translated by AI.