Professional baseball SSG Landers' fifth starter candidates Park Jong-hoon (34) and Kim Geon-woo (23) successfully completed their last appearance in the exhibition game.
On the 14th, Park Jong-hoon started the game against the Kiwoom Heroes at the '2025 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League' held at Incheon SSG Landers Field, recording 4 innings, 5 hits allowed (1 home run), 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, and 2 earned runs for the win.
Park Jong-hoon, who struck out leadoff hitter Park Joo-hong in the first inning, faced consecutive hits from Jang Jae-young and Lee Jae-sang but got Choi Joo-hwan and Kim Dong-yeob out, preventing any runs. In the second inning, with SSG leading 2-0 and one out, he issued a walk to Yeo Dong-wook, struck out Kim Keon-hee but allowed a game-tying two-run home run to Jeon Tae-hyun.
Park Jong-hoon, who got Jang Jae-young, the leadoff batter in the third inning, out with a ground ball to third base, faced a crisis with one out on second base after issuing a walk to Song Seong-moon and allowing a stolen base. However, he got Choi Joo-hwan out on a ground ball to first base and struck out Kim Dong-yeob, escaping the crisis. In the fourth inning, he allowed a hit to leadoff batter Lee Hyung-jong but got Yeo Dong-wook and Kim Keon-hee out as fly balls to left field. In the two-out, runners on first and second situation, he induced a ground ball to second base from Park Joo-hong and avoided giving up any runs.
Park Jong-hoon handed the mound over to Kim Geon-woo in the fifth inning with SSG leading 5-2. Kim Geon-woo struck out Jang Jae-young, the leadoff batter in the fifth inning, and quickly retired Song Seong-moon and Kim Dong-heon, completing a three-up, three-down inning. In the sixth inning with two outs, he allowed a hit to Yeo Dong-wook but struck out Kwon Hyuk-bin.
In the seventh inning, Kim Geon-woo recorded a three-up, three-down inning with two strikeouts. In the eighth inning with two outs, he allowed a solo home run to Kim Dong-yeob, conceding one run. However, he got Lee Yong-kyu out on a ground ball to the catcher, finishing the inning without any further issues. In the ninth inning, with SSG leading 5-3, he handed the mound over to Lee Ro-eun, completing his appearance.
Kim Geon-woo recorded 4 innings, 2 hits allowed (1 home run), 5 strikeouts, and 1 earned run for the hold. Thanks to the strong performances of Park Jong-hoon and Kim Geon-woo, SSG won 5-3 and escaped a four-game losing streak.
Park Jong-hoon and Kim Geon-woo have been competing positively with Song Young-jin and Jung Dong-yoon since spring training as fifth starter candidates. In their last exhibition game appearance before the season opener, both Park Jong-hoon and Kim Geon-woo showcased strong pitching, raising expectations. SSG manager Lee Soong-yong noted in a post-game interview, "While (Park) Jong-hoon allowed an early home run, his strike ratio has improved, and he has gotten better at maintaining control with runners on base. (Kim) Geon-woo, who followed, exhibited almost perfect aggressive pitching based on good command," expressing satisfaction with the performance of both pitchers.
Kim Geon-woo said, "I’m not thinking much about the fifth starter competition. The first goal is to be included in the opening day roster. If I make it onto the opening day roster, that would be really great," adding, "We only talk about good things among the pitchers competing for the fifth starter spot. It seems like we have a friendly competition," while vowing to perform well this season.
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