.jpg) Hanwha Eagles starter Ryu Hyun-jin reacts during the KBO league game against the Samsung Lions in Daegu, Sunday. / Yonhap |
By Yoon ChulThe best Korean left-handed hurler Ryu Hyun-jin of the Hanwha Eagles announced a return to form completing the game for a 3-1 away victory against the Samsung Lions in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), Sunday.
At Daegu Stadium, Ryu dubbed “Monster” stood at the mound from start to finish for his 80th win in the KBO, allowing only four hits and one run.
It is also his 25th complete game.
With his second win of the season, he lowered his ERA to 4.35 as well as holding the top spot in the strikeout standings with 42.
Ryu struggled in his first three games pitching 16 1/3 innings with 15 earned runs. But in the last three outings he has pitched 25 innings conceding just five.
Since the 24-year-old debuted in the KBO in 2006 Ryu has 80-40 with a 2.82 ERA, 942 strikeouts pitching 1,001 2/3 innings in 145 games, despite playing for one of the perennially worst-ranked teams.
Since 2006 his 80 wins account for 26.6 percent of the team’s victories.
The KBO is in its 30th season but there are only 30 pitchers who have recorded more than 80 victories.
He is also known for his quality starts.
A quality start is when a pitcher completes more than six innings allowing less than three runs and is a measurement for starters.
The inning-eater pitches almost seven innings per game. Among 145 of appearances he has started 142 games with 99 quality starts.
The level of his quality starts is much higher than the basic standard.
Among the 99 he has pitched more than seven innings allowing two runs 74 times and he had only seven outings when he has lasted less than fifth innings.
The next target will be his 100th win. As Ryu has about 20 appearances left this season it will be hard to achieve that number this year.
His initial goal is to defend the lowest ERA title and most strikeout award he won last year.
In the KBO a player becomes a free agent after completing nine seasons but can only go abroad at the point if the team allows it.
Ryu is in his sixth season.
Fans are predicting that Ryu’s future may well lie in Major League Baseball (MLB).
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