Professional baseball SSG Landers pitcher Park Jong-hoon (34) collapsed, unable to overcome his own struggles.

On the 27th, Park Jong-hoon made his starting appearance in a game against the Lotte Giants at Incheon SSG Landers Field as part of the '2025 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League,' recording 3⅔ innings, 1 hit, 4 walks, 2 hit batters, 3 strikeouts, and 2 earned runs.

In the first inning, after allowing leadoff batter Yoon Dong-hee to reach base on a walk, Park Jong-hoon also walked Jung Hoon, creating a crisis with runners on first and second base with no outs. However, he struck out Victor RAY in a one-out, first-and-third situation following a groundout by Na Seung-yeop and got Jeon Joon-woo to pop out to center field, escaping the inning without giving up a run.

In the second inning, after hitting leadoff batter Son Ho-young with a pitch, Park Jong-hoon faced a one-out, second-base situation created by Park Seung-wook's groundout. He then caught Jeon Min-jae with a fly out to right field and struck out Jeong Bo-geun, managing to escape another crisis without giving up a run.

However, in the third inning, he could no longer hold on. Park Jong-hoon issued walks to leadoff batters Yoon Dong-hee and Jung Hoon, facing a one-out, bases-loaded crisis following a groundout by Na Seung-yeop. Ultimately, he surrendered a sacrifice fly to RAY, allowing the first run of the game. Jeon Joon-woo was caught out by a fly into third base.

In the fourth inning, after recording a groundout against leadoff batter Son Ho-young, Park Jong-hoon began to falter again by hitting Park Seung-wook with a pitch. He struck out Jeon Min-jae but gave up a timely hit to Jeong Bo-geun, allowing one earned run. Ultimately, Park Jong-hoon could not complete the inning and handed the mound over to Kim Gun-woo. Although Kim Gun-woo allowed Yoon Dong-hee to walk, he struck out Jung Hoon to prevent additional runs. Thanks to Kim Gun-woo's strong performance, SSG won the game 5-2, securing the winning series.

Park Jong-hoon, who recorded 70 pitches, used a two-seam fastball (34 pitches), curveball (29 pitches), and fastball (7 pitches). His two-seam fastball reached a top speed of 135 km/h. The low release point characteristic of Park Jong-hoon clearly made it difficult for the Lotte batters to attack, but he struggled to find the strike zone. His strike rate was just over half at 51.4%, and he issued as many as 6 walks, continuously putting himself in trouble.

Park Jong-hoon, who signed a five-year contract worth 6.5 billion won with SSG in 2021, has been struggling with poor performance recently. Last season, he recorded just 1 win and 4 losses over 10 games (35 innings) with an earned run average of 5.94. However, with foreign pitcher Mitch White sidelined due to injury, he was the first to get an opportunity as the fifth starter.

SSG manager Lee Seung-yong noted in an interview before the game, "For now, isn’t (Park) Jong-hoon the starter? We need to see how things go. Behind him, (Kim) Gun-woo and (Jeong) Dong-yoon are all ready. For now, I expect Jong-hoon to show good pitching. It would be better if Jong-hoon lasts longer today, as the three from the winning group are resting," expressing hopes for Park Jong-hoon's solid performance. However, Park Jong-hoon struggled and could not meet the expectations, leaving the mound early.

Can Park Jong-hoon, who prepared for the season with renewed determination, rebound in the rest of the season? Fans are still holding onto hopes for Park Jong-hoon's revival.

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