Jeon Mi-reu, who is challenging two-way play at the Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps (Sangmu), made a full-fledged appearance as a pitcher.
Jeon appeared on June 6 at the Sangmu Baseball Stadium in Mungyeong, North Gyeongsang, in the '2026 MEDIHEAL KBO Futures League' game against the KIA Tigers, pitching 1 inning, allowing 1 hit, striking out 1 and giving up no runs before leaving the mound.
On the day, Jeon entered as the team's third pitcher in the eighth inning. He retired leadoff batter Park Heon on a fly ball to left field, engaged in a full-count battle with Lee Chang-jin and induced a looking strikeout. After two outs, he allowed a single to Hwang Seok-min but finished the inning by getting Kim Seon-woo on a grounder to shortstop.
That day Jeon recorded a top fastball velocity of 149 km/h and an average velocity of 147 km/h. He threw seven fastballs, four curves and four sliders. He threw a total of 15 pitches.
This was Jeon's first official game appearance in about two years across the first and second teams. His last official appearance had been in the first team, on June 15, 2024, against LG. This appearance came 690 days later. Jeon, who was selected by Lotte as the third overall pick in the first round of the 2024 rookie draft, had made a name for himself as a two-way player since high school and showed the same intention in the pros. He trained as both a pitcher and a hitter at the finishing camp, but ultimately his potential as a pitcher was judged higher, so he decided to focus on pitching.
In his 2024 debut season he was used extensively on the mound but ended the season early with an elbow injury after near-overuse. Through June he finished his debut season with 36 games, 33⅔ innings, 1 win, 5 losses, 1 save, 5 holds and a 5.88 earned run average.
After the season he ultimately underwent Tommy John surgery on his elbow and his enlistment in the Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps (Sangmu) was confirmed. Last year he devoted himself to elbow rehabilitation and had no appearances as a pitcher. Instead, he temporarily served as a hitter and played in games. Last year he appeared in 21 games with a .250 batting average (24 at-bats, 6 hits), 2 home runs, 7 RBIs, 10 runs scored and an OPS of 1.056.
This year, as his rehabilitation as a pitcher neared completion, he decided to fully challenge two-way play. As a hitter he consistently served as designated hitter and pinch hitter, appearing in 16 games with a .147 batting average (34 at-bats, 5 hits), 1 home run, 3 RBIs, 4 runs scored and an OPS of .575.
But starting that day he began appearing again as a pitcher, entering the path of full-fledged two-way play.
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