The Hanwha Eagles of the Korean Baseball Organization have succeeded in reaching 40 wins for the first time in 33 years and continue to fight for first place. Even as the season approaches its halfway point, the strength behind their competition for the top spot is their pitching. Their team earned run average is ranked first (3.45), establishing solid baseball.

Since it is a team of pitchers, maintaining that pitching strength until the end of the season is the most important thing. Kim Kyung-moon, the Hanwha manager, is also focusing on managing pitchers with pitching coach Yang Sang-moon. When using relief pitchers, he carefully checks not only the actual appearances but also the number of times they have warmed up in the bullpen, taking care to ensure that fatigue does not accumulate.

On the 11th, rookie pitcher Jeong Woo-joo was sent down to the second team for the first time since the start of the season. Jeong, who pitched 24⅓ innings in 29 games this year, has seen a noticeable drop in fastball velocity recently. In the game against Doosan on the 10th, he did not throw a single pitch exceeding 150 km/h. Rookie players, particularly high school graduates, often struggle physically in weekend leagues, and Jeong Woo-joo's recent performance exemplified this.

Manager Kim Kyung-moon noted, “It was time for (Jeong) Woo-joo to take a break. I was looking for the right timing to give him some rest, and after seeing him pitch yesterday (10th), I made the decision. I think it’s better to give him a break before he says he’s hurt, so I talked with pitching coach (Yang Sang-moon) and made the decision.”

Existing pitchers are no exception. After dealing with shoulder pain at the end of last season and rehabilitating through spring training, Moon Dong-ju was removed from the first team roster for rest after the game against Lotte in Daejeon on the 25th of last month. Ryu Hyun-jin also felt discomfort in his inner thigh during the game against KT in Daejeon on the 5th and is resting after being excluded from the roster the following day.

Moon Dong-ju, who has taken time to recharge, is expected to return for the game against LG in Daejeon on the 15th. There is rain forecast for the Daejeon area on the 13th and 14th, which could change the schedule, but to align with Moon Dong-ju's return timing, Manager Kim has decided to give foreign pitchers a day or two more to recover. With Moon Dong-ju’s return on the 15th, Ryan Weiss, who pitched against Doosan on the 10th, will also get a rest of 4 days, avoiding pitching twice a week.

Manager Kim stated, “It's not easy for foreign pitchers to have a four-day rest between outings. If (Moon) Dong-ju comes back then, it would be better for Weiss to rest comfortably until Monday and pitch on Tuesday (17th against Lotte in Sajik). Cody Ponce is also thinking about managing him when the timing comes.”

Compared to Weiss, who has not had a four-day rest outing even once, the top starter Ponce has had three four-day rest outings. He recorded scoreless performances of 7 innings against NC in Daejeon on April 20, 5 innings with 2 earned runs against NC in Ulsan on the 22nd, and 5 innings with 5 earned runs against KIA in Gwangju on the 8th, resulting in an average earned run average of 3.71 over those 3 games. Compared to the average earned run average of 1.85 in the remaining 11 games, the discrepancy is significant. Manager Kim also evaluated Ponce's performance against KIA on the 10th, stating, “Even for a foreign pitcher, four-day rest appears heavier than 5 days of rest before pitching.”

Ponce has pitched 90 innings in 14 games this season, ranking second in this aspect after Samsung’s Ariel Huardo (92 innings). He is on pace for 193⅓ innings, but Ponce has never thrown this much in his career. His career-high in innings was 137⅔ in the 2017 season split between High Single-A and Double-A with the Milwaukee Brewers. He has not pitched many innings even in Japan, having recorded 104⅓ innings and 68⅓ innings respectively in 1st and 2nd leagues with the Nippon Ham Fighters in 2022-2023, and 127 innings last year with the Rakuten Golden Eagles.

Manager Kim is aware of Ponce’s history. He emphasized, “Ponce hasn’t pitched many innings in Japan either. We need to manage him before he says he’s hurt.” Ponce is scheduled to pitch against LG on the 14th, but rain is forecast for that day, which might lead to another day off. Manager Kim remarked, “Right now, I have no desires. If it rains, I’ll be grateful. Ponce has pitched a lot already, and so have the middle pitchers, so it would be nice if we could give him a break while it’s raining and he’s not in pain.”

Although many teams in the KBO League showed interest in Ponce, there were concerns due to his injury history. From 2021 to 2023, he had injuries to his elbow, forearm, and thigh. This year, having come to Hanwha, he has been pitching well without missing any turns in the rotation, but as the innings accumulate, the risk of injury increases. Consequently, Manager Kim has announced plans to manage Ponce as the season approaches its midpoint. He aims to prevent injuries by allowing for appropriate additional rest when he is not in pain. With meticulous management of pitchers being carried out, Hanwha’s upward trend appears likely to continue into the latter half of the season.

[OSEN]