Hanwha Eagles pitcher Eom Sang-baek has ultimately been demoted to the minor league.

Hanwha made changes to its first-team roster on the 16th. Eom was removed from the first-team roster, and Lee Tae-yang was called up to the first team.

Eom Sang-baek started on the 15th against the Doosan Bears at Daejeon Hanwha Life Eagles Park, pitching 2 innings, allowing 7 hits (1 home run), 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, and 5 earned runs before being taken out early. Hanwha failed to recover from the early scores and lost 2-8. Hanwha has fallen into a three-game losing streak after a 12-game winning streak.

Eom Sang-baek escaped a crisis with two outs and a runner on second in the first inning. In the second inning, leading 1-0, he faced a crisis with no outs and runners on first and second after Yang Seok-hwan hit a single and Oh Myung-jin walked. After one out, he allowed a game-tying hit to Lim Jong-sung and a go-ahead hit to Cave with two outs and runners on first and third.

With two outs and runners on second and third, he gave up an infield single to Choo Jae-hyun and a timely hit to Yang Eui-ji, falling behind 1-4. He was pulled after giving up a solo home run to Yang Seok-hwan, the leadoff batter, in the third inning. He was replaced after 51 pitches.

Eom Sang-baek acquired free agent (FA) status last winter, and Hanwha signed him for a maximum of 7.8 billion won over four years. It was the highest amount among FA pitcher contracts last winter. In 2024, he played for KT, recording 13 wins and 10 losses with an earned-run average of 4.88 over 29 games (156⅔ innings).

Hanwha expected to reinforce its starting lineup with the signing of Eom Sang-baek, hoping for consistency as an inning eater. The starting rotation, comprising two foreign pitchers, Ryu Hyun-jin, Eom Sang-baek, and Moon Dong-joo, has been rated as the best in the league.

However, Eom Sang-baek has struggled this season, recording 1 win and 4 losses with an earned-run average of 6.68 over 8 games (32⅓ innings). He failed to complete 5 innings in 5 of the 8 games. He pitched 5 innings once and 6 innings twice.

On the 9th against Kiwoom, he struggled, allowing 5 hits, 4 home runs, 1 walk, 1 hit by pitch, 2 strikeouts, and 4 earned runs over 3⅔ innings. He was taken out early again on the 15th against Doosan after giving up 5 earned runs over 2 innings.

Hanwha manager Kim Kyung-moon ultimately made a decision. According to Hanwha officials, after the game on the 15th, he met with Eom Sang-baek and informed him of his demotion to the minor league, allowing him some time for reorganization.

Eom Sang-baek is expected to recharge in the minor league for about ten days. The starting position left vacant by Eom will be filled by Hwang Jun-seo, who is currently in the starting rotation in the minor league.

Meanwhile, Lee Tae-yang returned to the first-team roster after 42 days. Lee recorded 1 loss and an earned-run average of 4.15 (4⅓ innings, 2 earned runs) over 6 games this season before being removed from the first-team roster on April 5.

After playing for over a month in the Futures League, he recorded 3 wins and no losses with 1 hold and an earned-run average of 1.42 over 9 games (12⅔ innings). After allowing 2 earned runs in 2 innings against Doosan on April 9, he recorded 8 consecutive scoreless games.

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