Park Jun-young 'Again' Early Exit, 'No 8th Consecutive Starting Win' for Hanwha... Manager Kim Kyung-moon Faces Growing Concerns [Gwangju Field]

*This content was translated by AI.

There has been no consecutive starting win in eight games. Despite having a powerful one-two punch with Ryu Hyun-jin and Owen White, the Hanwha Eagles are bowing their heads amid struggles from their starting rotation and instability in the bullpen. Park Jun-young (24) was once again pulled early.

On the 21st, Park Jun-young started against the KIA Tigers at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in a 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League away game. He threw 23 pitches over one inning, allowing three hits (two home runs), issuing one walk and striking out one batter while giving up four earned runs.

Hanwha handed the ball to Lee Kyoo-hoon instead of Park Jun-young at the start of the second inning.

After attending Chungam High School and Cheongun University, and appearing on the baseball variety show 'Bulkkot Baseball', Park Jun-young joined the team this season as a development player. He performed brilliantly in the Futures League with seven wins, four losses, and an ERA of 1.29. With the starting rotation faltering, Hanwha called up Park Jun-young in mid-May, and he secured a win in his debut game, appearing to become a new hope for the team.

However, he gradually showed difficulty handling innings. On the 13th against the Kiwoom Heroes, he pitched six and one-third innings allowing two runs; on the 18th against the Samsung Lions, he threw five innings allowing two runs, posting consecutive strong performances. Yet in the following three games, he failed to complete even five innings each time.

Today, he delivered his worst performance so far. He struck out the first batter of the first inning, Park Jae-hyun, but then gave up a home run to Herald Castro. With one out and runners on first and third, Kim Do-young threw a slider against Han Jun-soo that was located in the middle, resulting in a three-run home run over the right-field wall. He retired the next two batters with routine grounders, but that was all.

All three hits allowed resulted in extra-base hits, and it appeared the team judged the game would be difficult to win. Due to consecutive poor performances, Park Jun-young faced the risk of losing his starting opportunities. However, this is not solely Park Jun-young's problem.

Hanwha has had no starting wins in eight games since Owen White pitched seven scoreless innings and secured a victory against the LG Twins on the 3rd. The starting rotation collapsed easily, and even Will Hernandez, recently released, was ejected for a headshot during the first inning of the the 18th game against the Kiwoom Heroes.

Even when pitching well, it did not always lead to wins. White pitched five scoreless innings in a game against NC on the 9th, and Ryu Hyun-jin allowed four runs over five and one-third innings in a game against Kiwoom on the 18th, yet both were removed from the mound while holding leads of eight-four and four points respectively, as the bullpen collapsed and they lost their starting wins.

Will Hernandez also left the team due to poor performance, and Bruce Zimmerman was signed, but his debut appearance schedule has not yet been confirmed, and he may need time to adapt. This is also why Hanwha removed outfielder Lee Do-hoon alongside Kang Baek-ho and called up pitcher Park Jun-young (23) and Lee Kyoo-hoon today.

Manager Kim Kyung-moon explained, "As you know, middle relievers have been pitching a lot recently. There were unexpected situations as well. If the score is not favorable, those pitchers must step in, but if the score improves, another pitcher is needed. So we decided to bring up pitchers accordingly."

When the starting rotation falters, the ripple effect is fully transferred to the bullpen. This can create a vicious cycle where even if the starter holds strong, the bullpen ruins the game.

Last year, Hanwha advanced to the Korean Series for the first time in 19 years based on a powerful starting rotation. This season, their starting ERA stands at 4.15, placing them fourth—only slightly behind second-place KIA (4.11). However, since July, their ERA has risen sharply to 5.06. During this period, the starters recorded only two wins and four losses, while the team's overall record was three wins, six losses, and one tie, which was disappointing. With no starting win in eight consecutive games, Hanwha fell into a four-game losing streak and ultimately surrendered sixth place to the NC Dinos today, dropping to seventh. Manager Kim Kyung-moon's concerns are deepening.

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*This content was translated by AI.