Kiwoom Heroes pitcher Ha Young-min (30) led the team to a four-game winning streak with a remarkable performance typical of a second starter.

On the 29th, Ha Young-min started in the game against the SSG Landers in the '2025 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League' held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, recording 7 innings with 5 hits allowed, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts, and 1 earned run. It was his first win of the season. Kiwoom won 3-1, extending their winning streak to four games.

Ha Young-min, who threw 93 pitches, used a forkball (30 pitches), fastball (28 pitches), cutter (27 pitches), curve (7 pitches), and slider (1 pitch). The fastball reached a maximum speed of 146 km/h, while the cutter's maximum speed was 142 km/h. He targeted the SSG lineup with an aggressive pitching approach, achieving a strike rate of 71%.

After the game, Ha Young-min said, "I tried my best not to give up any runs today. Since the team was on a winning streak, I didn't want to inconvenience the team. I thought I needed to pitch well. Our hitters have been performing excellently, so I believed that if I pitched well, we could win."

Ha Young-min, who actively employed breaking balls against the SSG lineup, explained, "In the first game, my catcher (Kim) Dong-heon and I called the pitches together, but today, I told Dong-heon to take the lead, so we focused more on him. In critical situations, I took the lead, and in other situations, Dong-heon led the pitch selection."

Ha Young-min made his season debut against Samsung on the 23rd, but he recorded 3 innings with 8 hits allowed (1 home run), 3 strikeouts, and 5 earned runs (4 earned runs) in a loss. Ha Young-min noted, "There wasn't much difference between the last game and today. I just pitched as I always do. However, I think the main difference was my condition. In the first game, my fastball was too off-target, but today I was able to throw it with strength, so it seemed to go in better."

This season, Kiwoom has been using two foreign hitters while Kenny Rosenberg is the only foreign pitcher. Ha Young-min has taken the role of the second starter following Rosenberg. However, in the first two series of the opening, both Rosenberg and Ha Young-min struggled and suffered losses. Nevertheless, second and third-year pitchers Kim Yoon-ha, Jung Hyun-woo, and Yoon Hyun have fulfilled their roles, allowing Kiwoom to successfully turn the atmosphere around.

Regarding his previous start, Ha Young-min said, "I felt a bit sorry as a senior. If we had won earlier and I had pitched well, I might have pitched more comfortably, but I think I felt some pressure. In that regard, I want to say I'm sorry and thank you for pitching well to my juniors."

Ha Young-min, who recorded 9 wins and 8 losses with an earned run average of 4.37 over 28 games (150⅓ innings) last season, missing out on 10 wins, said, "To be honest, I think if I allow around 3 runs over 6 innings, the hitters would score more runs to make me the winning pitcher. I’m focusing on not giving up any runs while pitching. Just by looking, the hitters are really performing well. The atmosphere is good," expressing his trust in the hitters.

Ha Young-min emphasized, "I wanted to turn around the regret of my last start. Our starting rotation is not weak. I want to show consistent good performance. I want to say that our starting pitchers also pitch well," adding, "I think I showed it properly today. I feel I pitched well," with a smile.

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