Professional baseball LG Twins pitcher Ham Deok-joo recorded a scoreless performance in his first real game after surgery. Youm Kyoung-youb, the manager, noted that Ham would throw once more before being called up to the first team next weekend.
Ham made an appearance as a relief pitcher on the 12th against the Goyang Heroes in the 2025 Futures League at the Icheon LG Champions Park, recording 1 inning, 1 walk, no hits, and no earned runs.
It was his first game appearance in 240 days since the playoff game against the Samsung Lions on Oct. 15 last year.
Ham took the mound in the 7th inning with a 3-3 tie. He threw a first pitch strike at 136 km/h against Lee Jae-sang and followed with a 123 km/h changeup for 2 strikes. He got an out on a ground ball to shortstop with a 124 km/h changeup.
He threw 3 balls to Kwon Hyuk-bin. It went to a full count with a strike from a fastball and a swing and a miss. He recorded the second out with an 8th pitch foul fly to the third baseman at 138 km/h.
After 2 outs, in the battle against Shim Hwi-yoon, he recorded 2 strikes with a 136 km/h fastball and a 105 km/h slow curve. With 3 balls on pitches that were not strikes, it became a full count. After 4 foul balls, he allowed a walk on the 10th pitch.
Against Lee Joo-hyung, the first pitch was missed by the catcher, allowing the runner to advance to second base. He ended the inning against Lee Joo-hyung with a 2 balls - 2 strikes count, getting a fly out to left field. Ham threw a total of 27 pitches, including 11 fastballs, 12 changeups, 2 sliders, and 1 curve. The fastball reached a maximum of 138 km/h.
LG scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th to win 5-3, making Ham the winning pitcher.
On the 12th at Jamsil Stadium, Youm Kyoung-youb commented on Ham's pitching, saying, "He threw well for the first time. They say he hit a maximum of 138 km/h. When Deok-joo came in the second half of last year, his best was 138 km/h. (In his first appearance), it was really impressive," he said with a smile.
He also revealed Ham's schedule for returning to the first team. Manager Youm said, "He will throw once more on the 17th and will be brought up on the weekend. There is no need for more build-up in the second team. If his fastball reaches 142 km/h, he will be effective. He will probably reach that level once he moves up to the first team. If he keeps throwing in the second team, the atmosphere won't be tense, so his velocity will increase when he comes up to the first team."
Ham appeared in 57 games in 2023, recording 4 wins, 4 saves, 16 holds, and an earned run average of 1.62, contributing to LG's first overall championship in 29 years. After finishing the Korean Series, Ham, who qualified for free agency, signed a free agent contract with LG for 4 years worth up to 3.8 billion won (600 million won in signing bonuses, a total salary of 1.4 billion won, and incentives of 1.8 billion won).
However, in January 2024, he underwent pin fixation surgery on a left elbow fracture. After completing rehabilitation, he returned to the first team in August, appearing in 15 games (11⅔ innings) with a record of 1 loss, 3 holds, and an earned run average of 5.40. After the 2024 season ended, he underwent surgery to remove pins and bone spurs from his left elbow in November.
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