Hanwha Eagles pitcher Eom Sang-baek (29), a free agent acquisition, took the mound in the Futures League for the first time in four years.

On the 21st, Eom made his starting appearance in a game against Sangmu held at the Mungyeong Baseball Stadium, recording 3⅔ innings with 6 hits allowed (1 home run), 1 walk, 4 strikeouts, and 2 earned runs. He did not record a win or loss.

He made his appearance in the Futures League five days after being removed from the first-team roster on the 16th. Eom's Futures League appearance marked the first time since July 30, 2021, when he was with KT, that he pitched in the Futures League. At that time, the season was interrupted due to the Tokyo Olympics, and first-team players were also checking their conditions in the Futures League.

Excluding the period of service, Eom's appearance in the Futures League was effectively his first since 2019.

In the first inning, after retiring Ryu Seung-min with a fly ball to right field, Eom allowed a single to Ryu Hyun-in but struck out Lee Jae-won swinging and retired Han Dong-hee with a fly ball to right field, finishing the first inning without allowing a run.

However, in the second inning, he gave up a solo home run to Yoon Jun-ho that traveled 130 meters to left field, marking his first earned run. After retiring Jeon Ui-san with a groundout to second, Eom allowed a single to Han Seung-yeon but retired Kim Jae-sang with a fly ball to right field and struck out Park Chan-hyuk swinging, finishing the second inning without allowing further runs.

In the third inning, Eom retired Ryu Seung-min with a groundout to shortstop but allowed a single to Ryu Hyun-jin. He caught Lee Jae-won’s fly ball to right field, but after walking Han Dong-hee, he allowed a timely hit to Yoon Jun-ho that resulted in an additional earned run. Eom finished the third inning after retiring Jeon Ui-san with a fly ball to right and struck out Han Seung-yeon swinging in the fourth. He allowed a single to Kim Jae-sang but struck out Park Chan-hyuk swinging before handing the mound over to Kwon Min-kyu.

It was a substitution during the inning, but it was not due to an injury. He threw a total of 63 pitches with a maximum speed of 145 km/h, averaging 144 km/h with 30 fastballs, 29 change-ups, and mixing in 4 sliders.

After finishing last season, Eom Sang-baek moved to Hanwha as a free agent for 7.8 billion won over four years. This year, he has struggled with a record of 1 win and 4 losses over 8 games (32⅓ innings), an earned run average of 6.68, 28 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.82, allowing a batting average of .323. The struggles were more pronounced given his status as a high-priced free agent.

He started the season poorly, not exceeding 5 innings in all three games, suffering losses from the beginning. On the 18th of last month, he reported his first win in Daejeon against NC, allowing 4 earned runs over 5 innings, and on the 25th against KT, he achieved his first quality start with 1 earned run over 6 innings. On the 2nd of this month against KIA in Gwangju, he seemed to find stability with 2 earned runs over 5 innings, but he collapsed in his last two games.

On the 9th against Kiwoom in Gocheok, he allowed 4 solo home runs, leading to an early exit after 3⅔ innings with 4 earned runs, and on the 15th against Doosan in Daejeon, he had a disastrous outing with 5 earned runs over 2 innings. Although he had good speed with a maximum of 150 km/h and an average of 146 km/h for his fastballs, he collapsed due to poor control over both fastballs and breaking balls.

As a result, he was excluded from the first-team roster the next day and decided to go down to the second team for adjustment time. In his first Futures League appearance, he showed anxiety by allowing batters on base every inning, but for Eom, the process and refreshment are more important than results.

Eom Sang-baek will be eligible for re-registration in the first-team roster starting on the 29th. The second-year left-hander Hwang Jun-seo, who stepped in as a replacement starter, showed a decent performance of 2 hits allowed, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts, and 2 earned runs over 3⅓ innings against NC on the 21st, which may give Eom a bit more time to regroup.

Meanwhile, in that Futures League game, Hanwha defeated Sangmu 8-5. After a 13-game winning streak, Hanwha Futures ended their 3-game losing streak and solidified their position at the top of the Northern League with a record of 27 wins, 14 losses, and 1 tie (winning percentage .659). The second pitcher Kwon Min-kyu achieved a relief victory with 2⅓ innings, allowing 1 hit, no walks, 3 strikeouts, and no earned runs. Closer Won Jong-hyuk recorded his 4th save of the season with 1 inning, 1 strikeout, and no earned runs.

At the plate, Kim Geon contributed significantly with 3 hits in 5 at-bats, including his 4th solo home run in the 9th inning. Lim Jong-chan also had a notable performance with 2 hits in 4 at-bats, including his 4th home run and 2 RBIs, while Kim In-hwan recorded 2 hits in 5 at-bats, including his 1st home run of the season and 1 RBI. Rookies Bae Seung-soo and Han Ji-yoon also made their mark with 2 hits in 5 at-bats and 2 hits in 3 at-bats with 1 RBI and 2 walks, respectively.

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