Last year, left-handed pitcher Kyle Hart (33, San Diego Padres), who played for NC Dinos in the KBO League, made a strong showing in his major league return after five years. Following Eric Fedde (32, St. Louis Cardinals), who also hails from NC and has established himself in the major leagues, Hart aims to achieve KBO's reverse export myth for the second consecutive year.
On the 1st, Hart started the home game against the Cleveland Guardians in the 2025 major league, pitching five innings with five hits (two home runs), one walk, and four strikeouts, allowing two runs. After San Diego held a 7-2 lead, Hart handed the mound over to the bullpen in the 6th inning, qualifying for the win.
It was Hart's first major league appearance in 1,672 days since facing the Atlanta Braves on Sept. 2, 2020, during his time with the Boston Red Sox, and he performed steadily.
Hart started by striking out Cleveland's leadoff hitter Steven Kwan with a sweep and then gave up a home run to the next batter, José Ramirez, allowing the first run. A sinker thrown on the sixth pitch in a full count became a mislocated pitch that resulted in a solo shot to left field. However, after striking out Rain Thomas with a high fastball and inducing Carlos Santana to hit a ground ball to third base, Hart finished the first inning without allowing any additional runs.
In the 2nd inning, Hart made quick work of John Kenczi Noel with a flyout to left field, Jonathan Rodríguez with a flyout to second base, and struck out Gabriel Arias with a sweep, retiring the side in order.
However, in the 3rd inning, he gave up another run on a home run. The slider thrown to leadoff hitter Austin Hedges on the second pitch resulted in a solo shot to left field. After a well-hit line drive by Brian Rocchio went straight to the center fielder, Hart caught his breath and induced Kwan to hit a ground ball to shortstop, but then allowed a double to the left by Ramirez, putting him back in a scoring position. Nevertheless, he overcame the crisis by striking out Thomas looking with a low outside sweep.
In the 4th inning, Hart recorded another 1-2-3 inning by getting Santana out with a line drive to center field and Noel and Rodríguez out with flyouts to center.
In the 5th inning, Hart faced a crisis with Arias's infield hit and walking Hedges, putting runners on first and second with no outs. However, he successfully picked off the runner at second base while trying to throw to third. After third baseman Matt Machado tagged out the runner Arias at second base, a defensive interference occurred during the throw to first, resulting in a double play with Hedges. With both runners off the bases in a flash, Hart allowed a single to Rocchio to left field but managed to retire Kwan with a flyout to right field, completing five innings.
Starting from the 6th inning, with San Diego leading 7-2, Hart passed the mound to Alex Jacob, qualifying for the win. He threw a total of 80 pitches with 51 strikes and 29 balls. He reached a maximum speed of 93.5 miles per hour (150.5 kilometers per hour) with an average speed of 91.8 miles per hour (147.7 kilometers per hour), pitching 15 sinkers, 21 sweeps, 20 changeups, sliders, and 12 four-seam fastballs. He threw the sweep, which he mastered last year in Korea, the most, collecting three strikeouts with it. Although he surrendered two home runs, his stable control in the strike zone stood out.
Hart achieved a career turnaround by spending a year in Korea last year. After recording a 1-0 record with a 15.55 earned run average in four games (three starts, 11 innings) in Boston in 2020, Hart remained in the minor leagues. He reappeared in the KBO League last year wearing the NC uniform, pitching in 26 games (157 innings) with a 13-3 record, a 2.69 earned run average, 182 strikeouts, a 1.03 WHIP, and a batting average against of .215. He ranked first in strikeouts, WHIP, and batting average against; second in earned run average; and third in wins, earning both the Golden Glove for KBO pitchers and the Choi Dong-won Award, Korea's version of the Cy Young Award.
Being recognized for his performance in Korea, Hart signed a major league contract with San Diego worth $1.5 million guaranteed for one year, with a maximum of $8.5 million for two years. He competed for the fifth starter spot in spring training but struggled with condition management due to the flu, posting a 9.39 earned run average over two games with 7⅔ innings pitched, 10 hits (three home runs), two walks, one hit batter, and seven strikeouts, allowing eight earned runs.
However, Yu Darvish was placed on the injured list with elbow inflammation, allowing Hart to join the starting rotation alongside Randy Vasquez in the competition for the fifth starter spot. Vasquez pitched six innings with four hits, four walks, and three strikeouts, earning a shutout against the Atlanta Braves on the 30th of last month while Hart also did his part, getting off to a good start.
[OSEN]