The pitcher who ended the losing streak of the professional baseball Kiwoom Heroes was rookie Jung Hyun-woo (19). He proved his value as the overall first pick by calming down the heated Hanwha Eagles lineup.

On the 12th, Jung Hyun-woo started in the away game against Hanwha in the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League held at Hanwha Life Baseball Park in Daejeon, leading Kiwoom to a 6-2 victory with a performance of 5 innings, 7 hits allowed, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, and 2 earned runs. The Hanwha lineup, which had begun to heat up with a total of 24 runs over the past 3 games, was also held to just 2 runs that day.

After earning his first win in his debut on the 26th of last month against KIA in Gwangju (5 innings, 8 hits allowed, 7 walks, 4 strikeouts, 6 earned runs), Jung Hyun-woo achieved his second win of the season in just 2 games on the 17th, lowering his earned run average from 5.40 to 4.80.

Kiwoom, which had struggled with 1 win and 3 losses this week including a 2-game losing streak, saw cleanup hitter Ruben Cardenas absent temporarily due to paternity leave, and Lee Joo-hyung also missed due to an ankle injury, resulting in a weakened lineup. The burden on pitchers, particularly starters, was heavy, as Hyun Min-han (4 innings, 6 earned runs) against LG on the 10th and Kim Yoon-ha (5 innings, 5 earned runs, 4 earned runs) against Hanwha on the 11th allowed runs early, shifting the momentum of the games.

However, Jung Hyun-woo was different that day. After Kiwoom's lineup scored first in the top of the first inning, Jung Hyun-woo, who took the mound, allowed a double to Estevan Florial in the bottom of the first inning but retired the next three batters. With one out and runners on second base, he got Moon Hyun-bin to fly out to center field and caught Noh Si-hwan with a line drive to second base, ending the first inning.

In the bottom of the second inning, he allowed consecutive hits to Chae Eun-sung and Kim Tae-yeon, putting him in a no out, first and second base crisis, but struck out Lee Jin-young with his signature forkball, taking a breather. He then calmly caught Chae Eun-sung, who was attempting to steal third base, with a pickoff and retired Lee Jae-won with a fly out to left field, escaping without allowing any runs.

In the bottom of the third inning, he successfully recorded his first perfect inning by getting Sim Woo-jun to ground out to shortstop, Hwang Young-mook to foul out to third base, and Florial to line out to right field. Right fielder Park Joo-hong helped Jung Hyun-woo by making a diving catch on a ball that was headed for a hit.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Jung Hyun-woo faced another crisis with two outs and runners on first and second base after allowing hits to Noh Si-hwan and Kim Tae-yeon, but this time he managed to strike out Lee Jin-young with a forkball. Meanwhile, Kiwoom's lineup provided support with 5 runs by the top of the fifth inning, allowing Jung Hyun-woo to pitch more comfortably.

The first earned run came in the bottom of the fifth inning. After issuing a walk to Lee Jae-won and striking out pinch-hitter Ha Joo-seok with a slider inside, he allowed a single to Choi In-ho, leading to a crisis with one out and runners on first and third base. When Florial hit a ground ball to second base, the runner on third base scored, marking the first earned run for Jung Hyun-woo. He then allowed a hit off the top of the right-field monstor wall, which was 8 meters high, to Moon Hyun-bin. In the meantime, the runner from first base, Florial, also scored, leading to an additional earned run.

It was a situation where he could have fallen apart, but Jung Hyun-woo remained calm. He faced the slugger Noh Si-hwan next and used a curveball to induce a fly out to center field, meeting the requirements for a win as he left the mound. He threw a total of 84 pitches with 53 strikes and 31 balls. His fastest pitch reached 147 km/h, with an average of 141 km/h, and he primarily used fastballs (40), sliders (23), curves (13), and forkballs (8).

Jung Hyun-woo was selected by Kiwoom as the overall first pick in the first round of the 2025 KBO rookie draft held in September last year. He was recognized for his high completeness enough to push Fireballer Jung Woo-joo (Hanwha), who throws at 156 km/h, to second place. Despite being a 19-year-old high school graduate, he was included in the opening rotation unusually due to his stable control, variety of pitches, and game management skills, and is gradually adapting to the league and undergoing a growth process.

That day, his fastball velocity increased compared to previous games, and he effectively executed pitch control for his breaking balls. He reduced the number of walks from 7 and 5 in the previous 2 games to just 1 that day. After the game, Kiwoom manager Hong Won-ki praised, "Starter Jung Hyun-woo executed his duty well during 5 innings. His smart pitching was impressive." The 'captain' Song Seung-moon, who recorded 3 hits, 3 walks, and 6 on-base appearances including a decisive home run, also noted about Jung Hyun-woo, "It seems like he is really good at emotional control. The process in the first two games was a bit disappointing, but today he didn’t give many walks. I think that will help him grow in the future."

After the game, Jung Hyun-woo said, "In the previous two games, I was unable to control my pitches well. Today, I focused on throwing strikes and got a good result. Although there was a weather forecast for rain, I really wanted to play the game. I am so happy to finish it with a win" and regarding reducing his walks to 1, he said, "Senior (Kim) Jae-hyun advised me, 'If you throw meaningless pitches, the opposing hitters will narrow their focus and not swing. You have to focus on throwing strikes for them to swing at balls.' As a result, I think I reduced both the number of walks and the total pitches."

Jung Hyun-woo also expressed gratitude to the Kiwoom fans who visited Daejeon for the fan tour "Hero Expedition." He said, "There are people who came here to Daejeon with me as part of the Hero Expedition fan tour today. That’s why I could hear the cheers louder than usual." He added, "I threw hard to show a good performance as much as the support I received. Although I still have many shortcomings, I will show further development in the future."

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