Um Sang-baek completed his season preparations by discarding 5 innings with 44 pitches in his final exhibition game appearance.

On the 14th, Um Sang-baek made his start in the exhibition game against the Lotte Giants at Busan's Sajik Stadium in the 2025 KBO League, delivering an impressive outing with 5 innings pitched allowing 1 hit, no walks, 2 strikeouts, and no earned runs.

Um Sang-baek, who recorded 3⅔ innings with 5 hits, 3 walks, 1 strikeout, and 3 earned runs (2 earned runs) in his first outing against Doosan on the 8th, finished the exhibition with a 2.08 earned run average.

From the start of the bottom of the first inning, he neatly handled 7 pitches. After getting Yoon Dong-hee to fly out to left field on the first pitch, Estevan Florial showcased his wide defensive range by catching Go Seung-min's hit deep into right-center field.

After quickly ending the first inning by getting Son Ho-young to fly out to the infield, Um Sang-baek retired Victor Reyes on a ground ball to shortstop, Na Seung-yeob on a foul fly to third base, and Kim Dong-hyun on a ground ball to the pitcher, finishing the second inning with just 10 pitches. His pitch count was only 17 through the second inning.

In the bottom of the third inning, Um Sang-baek started by striking out lead-off hitter Park Seung-wook with a pitch that barely caught the upper part of the ABS zone. He allowed his first runner on a double by Choi Hang to right-center, but quickly ended the inning by getting Jeong Bo-geun to ground out to shortstop and Yoon Dong-hee to fly out to right field. He also only needed 11 pitches in the third inning.

The bottom of the fourth inning also passed quickly as he had another scoreless outing. After getting Go Seung-min to fly out to the infield and handling Son Ho-young on a ground ball to shortstop, he struck out Reyes on 3 pitches. Reyes' bat went forward then stopped on an outside high fastball, resulting in a swinging strike call, and once again, the inning ended with just 10 pitches.

In the final inning, the bottom of the fifth, he retired Na Seung-yeob on a ground ball to shortstop on 3 pitches, Kim Dong-hyun on a ground ball to the pitcher on 2 pitches, and Park Seung-wook on a fly out to the infield on the first pitch, finishing the inning with just 6 pitches.

Leading 2-0, Um Sang-baek handed the mound over to Moon Dong-joo in the bottom of the sixth after completing 5 innings with 44 pitches. His strike rate reached 72.7% (32/44), showcasing the essence of effective pitching with an aggressive approach.

After finishing last season, Um Sang-baek, who moved to Hanwha as a free agent under conditions of up to 7.8 billion won for 4 years after leaving KT, is expected to be a reliable starting resource. He is likely to serve as the fourth starter behind Ryu Hyun-jin, Kodi Ponce, and Ryan Weiss. His official debut for Hanwha is projected to be against LG on the 26th.

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