“How great would it be if he pitches so well with such good control.”

On the 12th, Lotte Giants' 2017 first-round draft pitcher, 9-year veteran prospect Yoon Seong-bin (26), despite being in the second team, showcased one of the best pitching performances of his career. Yoon Seong-bin started in a game against the KIA Tigers at 2025 Futures League held at Hampyeong KIA Challengers Field, throwing 80 pitches over 5 innings with 1 hit, 2 walks, and 10 strikeouts for a perfect game without any runs.

What's encouraging is that he had only 2 walks. The maximum speed of his fastball also reached 154 km/h, with an average of 152 km/h. Out of the 80 pitches, 67 were fastballs, focusing on overpowering the batters. He mixed in 7 forkballs and 6 sliders. The results were positive.

Manager Kim Tae-hyung also observed Yoon Seong-bin's pitching. Kim noted, “How many times has he pitched like that over the past 9 years? He also raised his arm position. He keeps lowering and raising his arm height.” Although he showed a somewhat cynical response, he added, “However, how great would it be if he pitches like that with such control? I plan to keep watching him for now,” revealing a hint of expectation.

Yoon Seong-bin, who has achieved nothing since joining in 2017, had moments of brilliance, but they were brief and he lost his luster. However, all the first-team managers Yoon has worked with have recognized his attractive condition, being close to 2 meters tall and throwing heavy fastballs in the 150 km/h range. Manager Kim Tae-hyung is no different.

Ultimately, he needs to pitch consistently. As Manager Kim said, even if Yoon Seong-bin is in the second team, he has never displayed such pitching content before. However, Yoon did it once more. On the 19th, he pitched against the Samsung Lions in a Futures League game at Singdong-gu, throwing 6 innings with 1 hit, 6 walks, and 8 strikeouts without any runs. The pitch count was an astonishing 103. Although the walks increased again, he managed to record the same number of strikeouts and, most importantly, did not collapse.

Even though he's in the second team, he continues to produce significant results. As Yoon Seong-bin consistently performs well, Manager Kim Tae-hyung remarked, “Just pitching well in the second team doesn’t mean anything. His quick motion is large, leading to walks and stolen bases, creating a repetitive pattern,” while noting, “However, if he keeps pitching well, we’ll have to consider using him.”

First of all, there was an opening in the starting lineup. On the 13th, Kim Jin-wook collapsed after 1⅓ innings against NC with 3 hits (2 home runs), 4 walks, 2 strikeouts, and 6 earned runs, and on the 19th against Samsung in Daegu, he also fell apart after 1⅓ innings, giving up 7 hits (2 home runs), 1 walk, and 7 earned runs. He has since been sent down to the second team. Kim Jin-wook's immediate replacement will be Park Jin, who fiercely competed for the 5th starter position.

Since Park Jin has shown competitiveness since last year, if he settles into the starting lineup and Kim Jin-wook returns to form, the depth of the backup rotation will solidify. However, there is a 9-game stretch scheduled from the 29th to May 7th, including Children’s Day. An additional starter becomes a necessity, and Yoon Seong-bin could fill this spot.

Based on his recent performance, Yoon Seong-bin is the first candidate to be called up as a replacement starter from the second team. Along with Yoon, Lee Min-seok, Lee Byeong-jun, and Han Hyun-hee have been consistently rotating in the second team. However, Lee Min-seok has 2 wins and 2 losses in 5 games with an earned run average of 5.31 (20⅓ innings and 12 earned runs), Lee Byeong-jun has 2 wins and 2 losses in 5 games with an earned run average of 8.10 (20 innings and 18 earned runs), while free agent Han Hyun-hee has no wins and 2 losses in 5 games with an earned run average of 8.10 (20 innings and 18 earned runs). None of them can match Yoon Seong-bin's stats of 2 wins and no losses in 4 games with an earned run average of 1.93 (14 innings and 3 earned runs).

For now, Yoon Seong-bin has come into the radar of first-team Manager Kim Tae-hyung. If he performs well once more, the justification for a call-up will become sufficient. The team's situation is similar. Will Yoon Seong-bin be able to seize the opportunity to return to the first team once again?

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