'ERA 5.90 Only When at Jamsil' Ha Young-min, Who Struggled Against LG, Earns First Debut Road Win at Jamsil in Final Start: "Today Is the Best" [Jamsil On-Site Interview]

*This content was translated by AI.

"Today is special. A scoreless game, a win in my final match at Jamsil, and extending our team's winning streak. Today means even more."

Kiwoom Heroes' Ha Young-min (31) left behind one of his best memories at the Jamsil Baseball Stadium, which had long been a difficult venue for him.

On the 8th, Ha started against LG in an away game at Seoul Jamsil Baseball Stadium during the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League season. He pitched six innings, allowing two hits and four walks (three free passes plus one hit-by-pitch), striking out two batters while remaining scoreless, leading Kiwoom to an 8-3 victory. With this win, the last-place Kiwoom improved to two consecutive wins, bringing their record to 45 wins, three draws, and 80 losses.

This was also a personally significant victory. Ha's first win as a starter against LG came 892 days after his previous such game on March 30, 2024, at Gocheok. Although he had earned two relief wins at Jamsil in 2016 and 2022, this marked his first-ever starting win against LG since making his professional debut in 2014.

Until now, neither LG nor Jamsil had been favorable opponents or venues for Ha. Prior to this game, he had a career record of 4 wins, 4 losses, and one hold in 29 games against LG, with an ERA of 5.24. At Jamsil specifically, his record stood at 2 wins, 4 losses, and one hold in 24 games, with an ERA of 5.90. This season alone, he posted an ERA of 8.31 in two starts against LG.

Ha was fully aware of his own weaknesses. After the game, he said, "When facing LG, I often started well but collapsed on my own in the fourth to sixth innings." He added, "Knowing this, I focused especially on the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings today."

There were moments of danger. In the bottom of the second inning, despite recording two outs against key batters, he allowed a walk to Hong Chang-ki and gave up a double down the left-field line to Koo Bon-hyuk, putting runners on second and third with two outs. However, he stuck to his strategy of pitching outside to Oh Ji-hwan and induced an outfield fly ball to center field, preventing any runs from scoring.

From then on, the game unfolded differently compared to previous matches against LG. Ha mixed four-seam fastballs (37 pitches), sliders (18 pitches), forkballs (18 pitches), cutters (17 pitches), curveballs (4 pitches), and two-seam fastballs (1 pitch) for a total of 95 pitches. Although he initially planned to rely heavily on breaking balls, he adjusted his strategy after observing the effectiveness of his fastball early in the game and LG batters' reactions.

Ha explained, "I originally intended to use more breaking-ball commands. But from the first inning, my fastball felt better than expected, and I sensed that batters weren't anticipating it as much." He continued, "In situations where I would normally throw a sweeper, I chose to throw fastballs instead."

A decisive clue came during his duel with Austin Dean. Noticing that Dean was slow to react to inside fastballs, Ha concluded that LG's lineup was expecting breaking balls. This led him to make the bold decision to increase his fastball usage, a move that paid off even in the middle innings. In the fifth inning, he engaged Oh Ji-hwan in a 10-pitch battle before inducing another center-field fly ball and retired Park Dong-won and Shin Min-jae on groundouts.

There were some mistakes in the sixth inning, as pitches to Austin Dean and Song Chan-ui drifted toward the middle of the plate. However, because he had already showcased a variety of breaking balls—cutters, forkballs, and curveballs—in earlier at-bats, LG batters struggled to time their swings effectively. In the end, Ha completed his share without allowing any runs until the final out.

This scoreless outing was especially precious for Ha this season. Prior to this game, among his 20 starts, only one had ended scoreless: a seven-inning scoreless performance against KT in Suwon on April 19. His previous best memories of games at Jamsil did not yield favorable results. For instance, on September 11, 2024, against LG, he recorded a personal single-game high of nine strikeouts but allowed five runs over 5⅓ innings.

That is why he gave this game the highest rating. Ha smiled and said, "I remember past games at Jamsil against LG where my stuff was excellent, but today feels even better." He added, "It was a scoreless win, my final start at Jamsil possibly, and it extended our team's winning streak." Kiwoom General Manager Seol Jong-jin praised Ha, stating, "Ha Young-min delivered a perfect six-inning scoreless performance as the starting pitcher. Congratulations on his first starting win at Jamsil Stadium."

With this season ending, Jamsil Baseball Stadium will soon fade into history. In what may have been his final start there, Ha completely erased his nightmares. The Kiwoom lineup also supported him by scoring six runs in the fifth inning alone. Starting with Seo Geon-chang's triple, Matt Davidson and Keston Hiura hit consecutive sacrifice flies, followed by three consecutive bases-loaded walks, securing the momentum for victory.

Ha laughed and said, "It feels like today might be my last start at Jamsil, and I'm glad we ended it on a high note. Most importantly, going scoreless hasn't happened in such a long time—I can barely remember when it was, which makes me even happier."

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*This content was translated by AI.