Kiwoom Heroes first-round, first-overall rookie Park Jun-hyeon successfully completed his debut.
Park Jun-hyeon started on the mound in the game against the Samsung Lions in the 2026 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 26th and pitched five innings, allowing four hits, four walks, striking out four and allowing no runs.
Taking the mound in the top of the first inning, Park Jun-hyeon retired leadoff hitter Kim Ji-chan on a foul fly to left field and induced a swinging strikeout from Ryu Ji-hyeok. Park Seung-gyu hit a grounder to second base to end the inning with three up, three down.
The second inning brought a crisis. Park Jun-hyeon gave up a hit to leadoff hitter Lewin Diaz and issued a walk to Choi Hyung-woo. With no outs and the bases loaded after a hit by Kim Heon-gon, Park Jun-hyeon got Jeon Byung-woo to fly out to second base and induced a 5-4-3 double play on Kim Do-hwan to escape the jam without allowing a run.
The third inning was not easy for Park Jun-hyeon either. He handled leadoff hitter Shim Jae-hoon with a grounder to first base but conceded a bunt single to Kim Ji-chan. He induced a grounder to second base from Ryu Ji-hyeok to get the lead runner, but a steal and a walk to Park Seung-gyu created a 2-out, runners on first and second threat. Park Jun-hyeon got Diaz to fly out to center field to escape the inning again without allowing a run.
In the fourth, after walking leadoff hitter Choi Hyung-woo, Park Jun-hyeon yielded an infield single to Kim Heon-gon, creating a no-out, runners on first and second threat. But Jeon Byung-woo induced a grounder to the pitcher that retired the lead runner, and both Kim Do-hwan and Shim Jae-hoon swung and missed for strikeouts, ending the inning without allowing a run.
In the fifth, Park Jun-hyeon began the inning by walking leadoff hitter Kim Ji-chan and then struck out Ryu Ji-hyeok swinging. He induced a grounder to third base from Park Seung-gyu, but a throwing error allowed the runners to remain. Facing a 1-out, runners on first and second threat, Park Jun-hyeon got Diaz to fly out to center and handled Choi Hyung-woo with a grounder to first base, once again escaping the jam without allowing a run. Leading 1-0 in the sixth, Kiwoom replaced him with Won Jong-hyun, ending his outing for the day.
Throwing 95 pitches, Park Jun-hyeon used a fastball (57 pitches), slider (31 pitches) and curveball (7 pitches). His fastball reached a top speed of 159 km/h. His strike rate was 53.7%, just over half, but he relied on his pitches in crisis situations and delivered scoreless pitching.
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