Professional baseball Lotte Giants sidearm pitcher Han Hyun-hee (32) is struggling in the second league.

Han Hyun-hee started the game against the NC Dinos in the 2025 Mediheal KBO Futures League held at Gimhae Sangdong Stadium on the 2nd, allowing 5 hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, and 5 runs (4 earned) over 5 innings.

Following the 5 runs (3 earned) in 3⅔ innings with 4 hits (1 home run), 1 walk, 1 hit-by-pitch, and 4 strikeouts against KIA on the 27th of last month in Hampyeong, Han has struggled with 5 runs in back-to-back games. This marks 3 consecutive games of poor performance, starting with the match against Sangmu on the 22nd of last month, which was held in Sangdong (2 innings, 5 hits, 3 walks, 3 runs). His earned run average in the Futures League has reached 8.44.

From the start of the 1st inning, Han Hyun-hee allowed a single to Choi Jeong-won and a double to the left-center by Ko Seung-wan, giving up the first run. Although he dealt with Park Han-gyeol with a groundout to first base, he allowed a stolen base to Ko Seung-wan and then gave up a 1-run triple to Oh Yeong-su in left-center. Both Song Seung-hwan and Choi Bo-seong were caught in line drives to first base, ending the first inning with 2 runs allowed.

He seemed to find stability in the 2nd and 3rd innings with consecutive three-up, three-downs, but then gave up 2 runs in the 4th inning. After a walk to Oh Yeong-su and a hit to the right by Choi Bo-seong, a wild pitch allowed the baserunners to advance one base each. With one out and runners on 2nd and 3rd, he gave up 1 run to Jung Hyun-chang's sacrifice fly to center field.

After throwing a hit-by-pitch to Kim Jeong-ho on the first pitch, he then allowed a double steal during Seo Jun-kyo's at-bat with two outs and runners on 1st and 3rd. While 1st base runner Kim Jeong-ho stole 2nd base, 3rd base runner Choi Bo-seong crossed home plate, extending NC's lead to 4-1.

In the 5th inning, he received no defensive help. Lead-off batter Choi Jeong-won advanced to 2nd amid a fielding error by the shortstop. With one out and 3rd base open due to Ko Seung-wan's sacrifice bunt, he gave up a timely hit to Park Han-gyeol, bringing Han Hyun-hee's runs allowed to 5.

Having thrown 76 pitches, Han Hyun-hee handed over the mound to Koo Seung-min in the 6th inning with a score of 3-5.

Han Hyun-hee joined his hometown team on a 3+1 year maximum contract of 4 billion won ($3 million, total guaranteed salary of 1.5 billion won ($1.2 million), maximum of 3.7 billion won ($2.8 million)) with Lotte in January 2023. After acquiring Han Hyun-hee, who was a FA grade A at the time, Lotte gave up pitcher Lee Kang-jun to Kiwoom as compensation beyond the protected 20 players. Although he was brought in with a hefty cost of 4 billion won due to prospect loss, the situation appears to be leaning toward failure as half of the contract period has passed.

In the first year of the contract in 2023, receiving a salary of 200 million won ($150,000), he had an unsatisfactory performance with 6 wins, 12 losses, and 3 holds over 38 games (18 starts, 104 innings), with an earned run average of 5.45 and 74 strikeouts. Last year, with a salary of 300 million won ($225,000), he contributed from the bullpen with 5 wins, 3 losses, and 8 holds over 57 games (5 starts, 76⅓ innings), and an earned run average of 5.19 and 70 strikeouts, but his performance did not match his salary.

This year, with a salary increase to 1 billion won ($750,000), he competed for the 5th starter position in spring training, but failed to show a different appearance and began the season in the second league. He continues to struggle with three consecutive poor performances in the Futures League, leaving disappointment. After the 3-year contract ends, he can opt out to become a free agent if he meets the individual performance conditions set by the team, but it does not seem easy considering that even a call-up to the first league is uncertain.

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