adminHanwha, which has been on a steep upswing with five consecutive wins in 1005 days, received another piece of good news. Pitching prospect Jung Yi-hwang (23) recorded a no-hitter in the second-level Futures League.
Jung started the first game of a doubleheader against SSG in the 2023 KBO Futures League at SSG Futures Field in Ganghwa on April 28 and threw a seven-inning no-hitter. He gave up three hits and no walks while striking out six.
The no-hitter is officially recognized in the Futures League as doubleheaders are played in seven innings. Jung threw 97 pitches against 24 batters to complete the seven-inning no-hitter.
Futures League no-hitters have been available since 2010, when records were computerized. The first was a nine-inning, 10-strikeout perfect game by LOTTE’s Lee Yong-hoon on September 17, 2011, against Daejeon Hanwha. Then, on June 14, 2015, LOTTE’s Lee Jae-gon threw a no-hitter against Samsung Electronics in Ulsan with nine innings, four hits, one walk and eight strikeouts.
Jung, who recorded the third no-hitter for the Futures since 2010 and the first in eight years, said through the club, “I had a crisis in the middle, but the defense helped me out, so I think it was a good result. I trusted my catcher (Heo) Kwan-ho-hyung and threw according to my signature, which is also the reason for the good result. I hope to show better in the future and make my first team debut as soon as possible.”
Jung, a 190-centimeter, 89-kilogram right-handed pitcher, was drafted by Hanwha with the 23rd overall pick in the 2019 Secondary Third Round from Busan High School. He first became known for his good deed in late 2018, when he was a junior at Busan High School, when he found and helped rescue a woman who had fallen under a breakwater in Haeundae, Busan, but his debut was delayed due to an elbow injury after joining the professional ranks.
After entering active duty during the 2020 season, he was released in November 2021 and spent last year in the Futures League. In 24 games and 47⅔ innings, he went 1-2 with a 5.29 ERA and 48 strikeouts. He tops out at 150 mph with an overhand fastball, forkball, and slider.
After gaining experience against foreign hitters last winter with Geelong Korea of the Australian Baseball Organization, Jung has started all 11 games in the Futures League this season, going 3-3 with a 3.42 ERA in 50 innings pitched. While he continues to work on his starting skills, his pitching style could be utilized in relief.메이저사이트
Hanwha manager Choi Won-ho, who led the Futures team in February, said of Chung, “He has a good forkball that sits in the mid-to-high 140s and has a good breaking angle and rotation on his main weapon, his slider. He takes a long time to warm up in the bullpen, but if he gets his pitches right, he can be a good set-up man.” He added that he sees value in the bullpen.