Professional baseball's Hanwha Eagles veteran pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin (38) is smoothly navigating the season under special management. This year, he has not thrown more than 100 pitches even once. On days he pitches well, he is still managed to stay under 100 pitches.

On the 30th, Ryu Hyun-jin led Hanwha to a 7-1 victory against NC in Changwon, with a quality start of 6 innings, allowing 3 hits, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts, and 1 earned run. Overcoming a brief dip in the previous two games, he secured his 5th win of the season (2 losses) on the 24th, lowering his earned run average to 3.12.

Before the game against NC on the 31st, Hanwha manager Kim Kyung-moon also noted, "(Ryu) Hyun-jin should have won the games he needed to win before. If you fail to secure wins when necessary, it can lead to difficult games later. He has overcome such hurdles and performed his role well."

Having thrown 91 pitches through the 6th inning, Ryu Hyun-jin could have potentially carried on for another inning based on his pitch count. However, he handed the mound over to Park Sang-won at the start of the 7th inning, avoiding any strain.

Ryu Hyun-jin has thrown less than 100 pitches in all 12 games this season. His highest pitch count this season was 99 in the game against Doosan on the 13th. Even on days he pitches well, he doesn't push it, typically finishing by the 5th or 6th inning. Ryu Hyun-jin last threw over 100 pitches in a game on August 7th of the previous year against Samsung (100 pitches). This marks his 19th consecutive game, including the last 7 games of the previous year, with fewer than 100 pitches.

Manager Kim Kyung-moon said, "Hyun-jin can throw more than 100 pitches, but right now we are thinking long-term. He also said he would follow any decision regarding coaching staff changes," adding, "When he feels okay, we (the coaching staff) need to manage him. Honestly, he has pitched a lot. He has been pitching a lot since a young age. Knowing this, I believe it is right to limit him and cut back at good times."

Since his rookie year when he was just 19 in 2006, Ryu Hyun-jin has pitched 201⅔ innings. The following year, in 2007, he pitched a whopping 211 innings. During that time, Kim Kyung-moon, who has been the Doosan head coach, closely watched Ryu Hyun-jin's performance. In his 9 seasons in the KBO League, he has pitched a total of 1493⅔ innings, and in Major League Baseball over 10 seasons, he has pitched a total of 1055⅓ innings, bringing his combined total to 2549 innings. He has pitched significantly more innings and pitches when factoring in various international competitions and postseason games.

In the meantime, he has undergone shoulder and elbow surgeries, resulting in two long rehabilitation periods. Now that he is a 38-year-old veteran, Manager Kim Kyung-moon is putting even more effort into managing Ryu Hyun-jin. With still more than half of the season left, ensuring he can complete the rotation healthily is of utmost importance.

Meanwhile, Hanwha will see free agent acquisition Um Sang-baek starting on this day. This will be his first return to the first team after 16 days since the game against Doosan on the 15th. In that period, he made 2 appearances in the Futures League (with an earned run average of 6.75) and worked on adjustments. Despite not having good results, the Futures record holds little significance for Um Sang-baek's career.

Manager Kim Kyung-moon also stated, "Looking at the 2nd team record, it doesn’t look good, but he is still Um Sang-baek. I believe he can do as we brought him in for such potential. If (Um) Sang-baek performs well today, it could be a significant boost for the team," adding, "The catcher has been pairing with (Lee) Jae-won, but since we haven't won, today we decided to switch it up with (Choi) Jae-hoon to bring some change."

[OSEN]