The Hanwha Eagles' free agent pitcher Eom Sang-baek (29) has come alive after returning from the second team. He has found stability with three consecutive games of pitching over five innings and allowing two or fewer runs. He showcased his power by recording nine Samjin strikeouts in two consecutive games.
On the 12th, Eom Sang-baek took the mound as a starter in a home game against the Doosan Bears at Hanwha Life Park, pitching five innings with four hits, one walk, and nine strikeouts while allowing two runs, contributing to Hanwha's 3-2 victory.
Although Eom Sang-baek left the game tied at 2-2 and did not record a win or loss, he lowered his season earned run average from 5.82 to 5.59 and showcased his skills with back-to-back games of nine Samjin strikeouts after a game against KIA on the 6th.
After suffering a loss with five earned runs in two innings against Doosan on the 15th of last month, Eom Sang-baek descended to the second team for reorganization. Since his return, he has yet to achieve a win in three games but has bounced back with 16 innings pitched, 19 strikeouts, six earned runs, and an earned run average of 3.38.
The start of the first inning was shaky. After allowing back-to-back singles to Doosan's first and second batters, Jeong Soo-bin and Oh Myung-jin, he yielded the first run when Yang Eui-ji hit a timely hit over the center fielder's head. In the continued no outs situation with runners on second and third, he induced a ground ball from Kim Jae-hwan, but the runner on third scored for an additional run. However, with one out and runners on the third base, he struck out Kim Dong-jun with a changeup and followed with a high fastball to strike out Cave for back-to-back swinging strikeouts.
In the second inning, Eom Sang-baek struck out Lee Yoo-chan with a fastball and induced a ground ball from Park Jun-soon with a curve. He then struck out Kim Min-seok with an outside curve, achieving a three-up, three-down inning. Continuing that momentum, he again had a three-up, three-down inning in the third. He struck out Jeong Soo-bin with a fastball inside for a swinging strikeout, followed by a looking strikeout on Oh Myung-jin before retiring Yang Eui-ji with a foul fly out to the catcher, resulting in consecutive outs for nine batters.
In the fourth inning, Eom Sang-baek faced a scoring threat when lead-off batter Kim Jae-hwan hit a right-field double. However, he recorded an out with a fly ball to left field from Kim Dong-jun, and following that, he induced a ground ball from Cave before striking out Lee Yoo-chan looking with a fastball, escaping the inning without allowing any runs.
In the fifth inning, Eom Sang-baek struck out the first batter, Park Jun-soon, with a changeup. He then allowed Kim Min-seok to reach base on a walk. After an eight-pitch battle with Jeong Soo-bin, he induced a ground ball to first base, leading to two outs with a runner on second. Against Oh Myung-jin, Eom faced danger on the fifth pitch with a wild pitch, advancing the runner to third base with two outs, but he struck out the next batter with a changeup, escaping the threat.
Having handed off to the bullpen from the start of the sixth, Eom Sang-baek finished with a total pitch count of 90. He threw 27 four-seam fastballs, averaging 145 km/h and reaching a maximum of 149 km/h, and threw more changeups (33) compared to curveballs (17), two-seam fastballs (11), and cutters (2). His five strikeouts with the fastball as the put-away pitch highlighted his aggressive pitching performance.
After the game, Eom Sang-baek said, “I tried to change my mindset rather than focusing on technical aspects after being taken off the first team. I was trying too hard. Today, I gave up two runs in the first inning and continued from there, but it hadn’t been like that before.” After transferring as a free agent last winter under conditions amounting to a maximum of 7.8 billion won for four years, he felt pressed by the need to perform, which led him to reflect on his beginnings in baseball during elementary school while he was in the second team to regain his focus.
He seemed to regret going only five innings with 90 pitches. Eom Sang-baek expressed, “It was exhilarating to prevent the crisis in the fifth, and I wanted to pitch in the sixth, so I begged coach Yang Sang-moon, but he took me out. I felt I could throw up to 115 pitches, so I was a little disappointed, but I will aim to pitch more innings in the next game.”
Although Eom Sang-baek has only recorded one win in 11 games, he has contributed to Hanwha's fight for the top spot with three consecutive games of pitching five to six innings while allowing two runs since his return to the first team. He remarked, “I haven’t achieved personal victories, but I am not disappointed at all that the team won. My condition is getting better compared to the beginning, and I will make sure not to hinder the teams at the top.”
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