The new foreign pitcher of the Samsung Lions, Herdson Garabito (30), delivered an impressive performance in his debut game. He dominated the batting lineup of the first place Hanwha Eagles and qualified for the win as a starter, but the bullpen blew the lead, delaying his first victory.
Garabito made his start on the 26th in a home game against Hanwha in the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Daegu Samsung Lions Park, pitching 5 innings, allowing 1 hit, with no walks, 4 strikeouts, and no earned runs. He left the game with a 1-0 lead and qualified for the win in his debut, but the bullpen couldn't hold onto the 1-run lead, pushing his first victory to the next opportunity. However, Garabito's pitching showed enough promise for future performance.
Garabito, a right-handed pitcher from the Dominican Republic who signed with Samsung for $356,666 on the 19th as a replacement for Denny Reyes, who left the team due to a minor fracture in his right foot, threw 33 pitches in live pitching on the 22nd before making his KBO League debut.
The start of the first inning was not easy. Garabito, who checked the pitch com issue and paused his pitching, had an intense battle of as many as 12 pitches with Hanwha's leadoff hitter Lee Jin-young. Lee Jin-young persistently troubled Garabito with 5 consecutive foul balls at a full count. However, Garabito struck him out with a 154 km/h high fastball and then struck out Luis Riberato with a curveball. He followed up by retiring Moon Hyun-bin with a pop out to left field, starting off with a perfect inning.
Garabito threw 24 pitches in the first inning, which was somewhat high, but he pitched efficiently from the second inning onwards. He allowed a single to the leadoff hitter Roh Si-hwan but fielded a ground ball off Kim Tae-yean himself and threw to second base for a double play. He then retired Ahn Chi-hong with a fly out to center field and completed the second inning with just 8 pitches, striking out Ha Ju-suk with a changeup before getting Choi Jae-hun to hit a ground ball to shortstop and Lee Do-yoon to hit a ground ball to first base.
Riberato, gaining momentum, struck out Lee Jin-young with a high slider in the fourth inning and then retired Riberato with a ground ball to the pitcher and Moon Hyun-bin with a bunt groundout, creating another 1-2-3 inning. In the fifth inning, he also retired Roh Si-hwan with a fly out to center field, Kim Tae-yean with a pop out to shortstop, and Ahn Chi-hong with a ground ball to second base, concluding his debut game on a high note with 11 consecutive batters retired.
As noted by Samsung manager Park Jin-man, who said he wouldn't push Garabito too hard in his first appearance, he finished his debut with 62 pitches over 5 innings. Although he started with 24 pitches in the first inning, he managed to throw only 38 pitches in the remaining four innings.
In addition to his fastball that reached a top speed of 155 km/h (11 times), he used a two-seam fastball (17 times), slider (15 times), changeup (11 times), sweeper (7 times), and curve (1 time), evenly throwing six different pitches. As expected, he showed the velocity typical of a power pitcher, and the effectiveness of his breaking balls was also good. The changeup and curve were effective against left-handed batters, while the slider was particularly effective against right-handed batters. After the batting order turned over, he disrupted the timing of the hitters with a focus on breaking balls.
Unfortunately, it did not lead to a victory in his debut. With a shaky lead of 1-0, the bullpen took over the mound and was immediately reversed in the sixth inning. Kim Jae-yoon, the second pitcher brought in, allowed a single to Ha Ju-suk, and after a sacrifice bunt by Choi Jae-hun, Samsung changed pitchers to Yuk Sun-yeob with one out and runners on first and second base. Yuk Sun-yeob struck out Lee Do-yoon but gave Lee Jin-young a walk, making it two outs with runners on first and second base.
Samsung then replaced the pitcher with left-handed Bae Chan-seung. Taking a gamble against left-handed batter Luis Riberato, it did not pay off. Bae Chan-seung's fourth pitch, a 153 km/h fastball, was high in the strike zone, but Riberato made contact, and the ball became a single to left field. As left fielder Gu Ja-wook missed the ball, both runners from second and first base scored. Hanwha took a 2-1 lead. It was the moment that Garabito's win in his debut vanished.
In the sixth inning, with two outs and runners on first and second, and in the seventh inning, missing a chance with the bases loaded and two outs, Samsung ultimately lost 3-1. However, despite the loss, Garabito's successful debut, having shown promise against Hanwha's batting lineup, which had a team batting average of .284 in June, gave hope for the future.
[OSEN]