'Top of the first-half league' Choi Min-seok, struggles not reflected in '5 walks, 3 earned runs' stats ... broke down in his third ninth-inning appearance [Incheon field]

*This content was translated by AI.

Choi Min-seok (20, Doosan Bears), who had emerged as one of the top stars in the first half, is showing signs of significant struggles. His career-best double-digit win total once again slipped away.

On the 30th at Incheon SSG Landers Field, Choi started against SSG Landers in a 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League road game. Over 4⅔ innings, he allowed six hits (including one home run), five walks, recorded four strikeouts, and surrendered three earned runs before being pulled from the mound.

In the first half, Choi appeared in 16 games, pitched 92⅔ innings, posted a record of 9 wins and 2 losses with an ERA of 2.33, delivering outstanding performances that made him the league's top star.

His first appearance of the second half on the 17th against NC Dinos also featured six scoreless innings. The real trouble came in the Samsung Lions game on the 24th. Choi held opponents to just one run through two innings, but his performance crumbled sharply in the third. After issuing a walk to start the inning, he allowed four consecutive hits with one out, compounded by defensive errors. He then surrendered two more hits and two additional walks, giving up ten runs before exiting after just 2⅔ innings. Although only four earned runs were charged due to errors, the performance was far from satisfactory. There was no trace of Choi's first-half brilliance.

Choi struggled from the start of the game. After allowing Jung Jun-jae to reach base with a single to left field, Choi walked Park Sung-han and Blay Madris in succession.

Kim Jae-hwan's hit was directed toward first base, leading to a double play that sent the runner back to first after a home-plate decision, allowing Choi to breathe a sigh of relief. He then struck out Jeon Ui-san to finish the first inning without allowing any runs.

However, he could not recover in the second inning. After allowing an hit and a stolen base to Choi Ji-hoon, Choi saw Park Chan-ho make a play at third base when Han Yu-seom grounded to shortstop, eliminating the lead runner and drawing a sigh of relief. Yet the situation did not ease. After issuing a walk to An Sang-hyun, he allowed a center-field hit to Lee Ji-young. At that moment, Han Yu-seom, who was on second base, rounded third and headed for home plate, but center fielder Jung Soobin's throw arrived even faster. It was a perfect relay that prevented the run.

Despite this, Choi did not improve. He struck out Jung Jun-jae with a check swing, but the opposing team requested video review. After the call was overturned to a no-swing, Choi ultimately issued a walk. He also walked Park Sung-han, allowing one run via a bases-loaded walk. Madris' well-placed hit was chased down quickly by Park Chan-ho in the outfield, preventing further runs.

In the third inning, Choi struck out Kim Jae-hwan but allowed Jeon Ui-san to reach on a single to left field. However, he escaped the inning again when Choi Ji-hoon's ground ball toward first base was turned into a double play by first baseman Kang Seung-ho, who relayed it to shortstop and then back to first.

After three innings, Choi had thrown 77 pitches. Allowing four hits and five walks while holding opponents to just one run seemed nothing short of a miracle. It was clear his performance lacked full command.

In the fourth inning, he transformed into an entirely different pitcher. He retired Han Yu-seom on a ground ball to shortstop and struck out An Sang-hyun in three pitches. His control appeared sharp; against Lee Ji-young, he induced a ground ball to shortstop with a two-seam fastball that drilled the zone, ending the inning cleanly.

However, he could not get through the fifth inning. After striking out Jung Jun-jae on a swing-and-miss, Choi allowed Park Sung-han to reach on a center-field hit. With one out and a runner on first, Madris crushed a three-pitch two-seam fastball thrown in a 1-1 count over the center-field wall for a two-run home run.

His pitch count reached 95, and Doosan's bench called up Lee Byung-hun to replace Choi. Choi's tenth win of the season was denied for the third time. His ERA rose from 2.49 to 2.63. Fortunately, the team came back to win 5-3, avoiding a loss, but he now faces another challenge ahead of his next start. Five walks in a single game marked his first since his season opener against Samsung. However, that outing featured six scoreless innings with two hits and four strikeouts, making it vastly different from today's performance.

His fastball reached a top speed of 146 km/h, yet he threw only 42 pitches with a strike-to-ball ratio of just 23-19, showing little separation between the two. This also explains why his cutter (27 pitches), sweeper (15 pitches), and forkball (11 pitches) lost their effectiveness. Today's game clearly demonstrated how critical command is to Choi Min-seok's overall power as a pitcher.

Choi is scheduled to start against NC Dinos at Jamsil on the 5th of next month. Having pitched two games totaling 13 innings this season with one win, no losses, and scoreless outings, expectations are high that he will regain his earlier form.

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*This content was translated by AI.