The matchup between Hanwha Eagles' Ryu Hyun-jin (38) and SSG Landers' Kim Kwang-hyun (37) has materialized in a practice game.

Hanwha and SSG announced that Eom Sang-bak and Kim Kwang-hyun would be the starting pitchers in the practice game held on the 2nd at Kochinda Stadium in Okinawa, Japan. However, with Ryu Hyun-jin being changed to the second pitcher for Hanwha, a surprise matchup between Ryu Hyun-jin and Kim Kwang-hyun took place.

Ryu Hyun-jin started in a practice game against KT on the 26th of last month. After only taking a break for 3 days, he will immediately take the mound. Hanwha's manager Kim Kyung-moon explained the reason for Ryu Hyun-jin's appearance that day in an interview before the game: “Even though he only had 3 days to rest, (Ryu) Hyun-jin said he wanted to pitch again here because the weather is better than in Korea. He requested through the pitching coach, and it was decided that he would pitch today. So, (Eom) Sang-bak will pitch 3 innings, and Hyun-jin will follow with about 3 innings as well. Since he is pitching today, he will pitch a bit later in the practice game.”

Ryu Hyun-jin and Kim Kwang-hyun are left-handed aces representing Korea. Ryu Hyun-jin is a prominent ace, recording 108 wins, 60 losses, and 1 save with a 2.92 earned run average over 218 games (1,427⅓ innings) in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) league, and 78 wins, 48 losses, with a 3.27 earned run average over 186 games (1,055⅓ innings) in Major League Baseball (MLB). He has participated in numerous international competitions, including the 2006 Doha Asian Games, the 2007 Asian Baseball Championship, the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC), and the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.

Kim Kwang-hyun has also been making a significant impact in both the KBO league and MLB. He has recorded 170 wins, 98 losses, and 2 holds with a 3.33 earned run average over 387 games (2,177⅔ innings) in the KBO league, and 10 wins, 7 losses, and 2 saves with a 2.97 earned run average over 35 games (145⅔ innings) in MLB. He has been responsible for the national team mound in international competitions, including the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2009 WBC, the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, the 2015 Premier 12, the 2019 Premier 12, and the 2023 WBC.

The highly anticipated matchup between Ryu Hyun-jin and Kim Kwang-hyun, the starting pitchers fans are most eager to see, has not occurred even once since Kim Kwang-hyun debuted in the KBO league in 2007. A matchup between Kim Kwang-hyun and Ryu Hyun-jin almost took place on May 23, 2010, in Daejeon but was ultimately canceled due to rain.

In 2013, when Ryu Hyun-jin advanced to MLB, he was unable to meet Kim Kwang-hyun, who was then playing in the KBO league. In 2020, Kim Kwang-hyun also moved to the MLB, but Ryu Hyun-jin was in the American League (Toronto) and Kim Kwang-hyun was in the National League (St. Louis), preventing them from meeting. In 2022, Kim Kwang-hyun returned to the KBO league, and shortly after, Ryu Hyun-jin returned to Korea in 2024, but their matchup did not materialize again.

Strictly speaking, it is difficult to say that a matchup between Kim Kwang-hyun and Ryu Hyun-jin has been established in this game as well. Kim Kwang-hyun is slated to pitch 2 innings as a starting pitcher and is expected to leave the mound. Ryu Hyun-jin is scheduled to pitch afterward, following Eom Sang-bak, who will pitch 3 innings, so there will not be a direct matchup between Kim Kwang-hyun and Ryu Hyun-jin.

Recently, there has been a buzz about the potential for Ryu Hyun-jin and Kim Kwang-hyun to reunite on the national team for the 2026 WBC, generating a lot of interest. The two pitchers last played together for the national team during the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2009 WBC. With fans having high hopes for Ryu Hyun-jin and Kim Kwang-hyun this year, attention is heightened from the practice game onward regarding how they will perform.

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