Professional baseball player Ham Deok-ju of LG Twins completed his third appearance in the Futures League. Oh Ji-hwan, who was demoted to the second team due to an ankle injury and batting slump, also participated in his first rehabilitation game. Ham is expected to return to the first team on the 28th, while Oh is expected to return on the 29th.

On the 27th, Ham Deok-ju appeared as a relief pitcher in the game against the Samsung Lions in the 2025 Futures League held at Icheon LG Champions Park, recording 1 inning, 2 hits allowed, and 1 run.

Ham Deok-ju, who appeared in the fifth inning with the game tied at 4-4, allowed a right-field hit to lead-off batter Kim Young-woong with a ball count of 3 balls and 1 strike. He then allowed a bunt hit in front of the pitcher to Ahn Joo-hyung, putting him in a no-out, first and second base crisis.

Samsung's Kang Min-seong laid down a sacrifice bunt, which Ham Deok-ju fielded and threw to first base for an out, resulting in one out with runners on second and third base. He surrendered a run to Lee Chang-yong with a first pitch sacrifice fly to right field. With two outs on third base, he handled Hamsu-ho's fly out to right field.

His fastball reached a maximum speed of 135 km/h, which is lower than usual. He recorded a minimum of 131 km/h and an average of 134 km/h. He threw 7 fastballs, 3 sliders, and 2 changeups.

Ham Deok-ju previously appeared in the Futures League on the 12th and 18th, each time recording a scoreless inning. He threw his top speed of 138 km/h. Although he was scheduled to appear over the past weekend, it was canceled due to rain, causing a delay in his return to the first team. He made his third appearance that day, and in three appearances, he recorded 3 innings, 2 hits allowed, 2 walks, and 1 run.

Oh Ji-hwan, who was placed on the injured list on the 9th due to a batting slump and ankle injury, made his first Futures League appearance that day. Playing as the second baseman, Oh recorded 1 hit in 3 at-bats, including 1 walk and 1 run.

Oh Ji-hwan got on base after drawing a walk on the seventh pitch during a full count with one out in the first inning. He scored on consecutive hits from Ham Chang-geun and Eom Tae-kyung with one out and a runner on first base. He came up as a lead-off in the third inning but was retired on a foul fly to the third baseman. In the fourth inning with the score tied at 4-4, he hit the first pitch but was retired on a fly to center field with two outs and a runner on first base.

Coming to bat as a lead-off in the seventh inning, trailing 4-7, he reached base with a hit to left field. He was replaced by a pinch runner, Choi Seung-min, at first base and ended the game.

Manager Youm Kyoung-youb announced on the 27th at Jamsil Stadium the timing for the call-up of Ham Deok-ju and Oh Ji-hwan. He noted, 'Ham Deok-ju will be coming up tomorrow (28th)' and added, 'He reached a speed of 138 km/h, which is his top speed. Last year, during the second half of the season, he also reached a top speed of 138 km/h. Today he reached 134 to 135 km/h, and he has already hit that top speed in the Futures League.'

He added, 'If he comes up to the first team and reaches speeds of 141 to 142 km/h, we can consider it to be his prime pitching. If he reaches 142 km/h, he will be effective enough. The highest speed he ever hit was 144 km/h. When he won the championship in 2023, he had an average speed of 142 km/h at the start of the season, with the fastest being 144 km/h.'

Manager Youm also commented on Oh Ji-hwan, stating, 'He will play in the second team game until tomorrow, and if he feels okay, he will be called up the day after tomorrow or on Tuesday; if he wants to play more, we will call him up next Tuesday.'

Oh Ji-hwan has appeared in 61 games this season, recording a batting average of .218 (39 hits in 179 at-bats), with 6 home runs and 26 RBIs, and an OPS of .658. If Ham Deok-ju and Oh Ji-hwan return to the first team, LG will have a complete roster, excluding Hong Chang-ki, who is out for the season due to knee ligament surgery.

Ham Deok-ju has appeared in 57 games in 2023, achieving 4 wins, 4 saves, 16 holds, and an earned run average of 1.62, contributing to LG's overall victory. He appeared in 4 games in the Korean Series, recording 1 win and an earned run average of 2.70 (1 run in 3⅓ innings). After the Korean Series, Ham acquired free agent status and signed a 4-year contract worth up to 3.8 billion won ($3 million) with LG ($600 million signing bonus, $1.4 billion total salary, and $1.8 billion in incentives).

However, in January 2024, he underwent surgery for a pin fixation due to a small fracture in the left elbow. After completing rehabilitation, he returned to the first team in August of last year, but struggled with a record of 1 loss, 3 holds, and an earned run average of 5.40 over 15 games (11⅔ innings). After the 2024 season, he underwent surgery to remove the pin and bone spur from his left elbow in November. He is currently nearing a return to the first team after a 7-month rehabilitation.

Oh Ji-hwan was named the MVP of the 2023 Korean Series. He performed impressively with a batting average of .316 (6 hits in 19 at-bats), hitting home runs in the first 3 games of a single Korean Series and recording 3 home runs and 8 RBIs. After the 2024 season, he signed a free agent contract worth a total of 12.4 billion won ($10 million) over 6 years ($5 billion signing bonus, $5 billion total salary, and $2.4 billion in incentives).

[OSEN]