Yang Seok-hwan (Doosan Bears), who suffered a hairline fracture in his ribs due to a hit by a pitch in the second team, made his return to the batter's box after completing rehabilitation on the 28th.
On the 2nd, Yang Seok-hwan was selected as the designated hitter in the away game against the Goyang Heroes in the 2025 Mediheal KBO Futures League, recording 1 hit in 4 at-bats and 2 strikeouts.
Yang Seok-hwan faced his first live game after 28 days since June 4 against the SSG Landers. He stepped up as the leadoff hitter in the first inning and struck out on a four-pitch swinging strike against Goyang's starting pitcher Kim Yoon-ha, marking the start of his return.
The hit came in his second at-bat. In the top of the second inning, with 2 outs and no runners on, leading 3-0, after a foul on the first pitch, he attacked Kim Yoon-ha's second pitch and connected with a solid single. Subsequently, Chu Jae-hyun grounded out to the first baseman, ending the inning.
The third at-bat came in the top of the fourth inning with one out and a runner on first while leading 5-0. The runner on first, Kim Jun-sang, successfully stole second base, creating a scoring opportunity, but Yang struck out on a swinging strike on the third pitch from Kim Yoon-ha.
Yang Seok-hwan faced his last at-bat in the top of the fifth inning with two outs and a runner on third while leading 9-1. After swinging and missing on the first and second pitches, he hit two consecutive fouls, making things difficult for Jo Sung-hoon, but ultimately grounded out to the second baseman on the fifth pitch, ending the inning.
Yang Seok-hwan was replaced by pinch hitter Han Da-hyun in the top of the seventh inning, concluding his comeback game.
Last year, Yang Seok-hwan had a major FA contract worth up to 7.8 billion won over 4+2 years in his first year, performing as captain and achieving 30 home runs and 100 RBIs (34 home runs and 107 RBIs) at Jamsil Stadium. Taking this into account, he quickly secured the starting first baseman position this year, but has struggled with a batting average of .260 and a batting average of .224 with runners in scoring position over 56 games.
Despite continued opportunities during poor performance under former coach Lee Seung-yup, Yang Seok-hwan was notified of his first transfer to the second team of the season on the 3rd of last month after Lee Seung-yup's voluntary resignation, not being included in the reform plan of interim coach Jo Sung-hwan. His batting average in the 10 games prior to his demotion was significantly low at .167.
As if that wasn't enough, Yang Seok-hwan faced bad luck on June 4 during the second game of the Futures League when he suffered a hairline fracture in his ribs after being hit by a pitch from Lee Geon-wook. He then headed to Iijima Treatment Center in Yokohama, Japan, and received rehabilitation treatment for about ten days.
Interim coach Jo Sung-hwan explained regarding the timing of Yang Seok-hwan's return, saying, "If he builds up his body sufficiently and gradually goes through the schedule of the second team games, I anticipate his return could be as early as the series before the All-Star Game, or if it takes a little longer, after the All-Star Game."
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