Kiwoom Heroes’ Chung Chan-heon (33) once again pitched powerfully.
Chung started the game against SSG Landers in the Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League 2023 at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on 3 March and threw six innings with five strikeouts and no runs.
After striking out the side in the first inning, Jung walked Han Yoo-seom in the top of the second, but retired both Park Sung-hyun and Kim Sung-hyun to end the inning. The third and fourth innings were again shutout. In the top of the fifth inning, Jung Chan-heon got Park Sung-sung to reach on an error at second base, but Kim Sung-hyun induced a grounder to short to get out of the jam. The sixth inning ended with another triple play.
Chung, who threw 80 pitches, was replaced by Won Jong-hyun in the seventh inning with Kiwoom leading 1-0. However, Kim Sung-jin gave up the tying solo home run to Jeon Eui-san in the eighth inning to lose his second win of the season. Kiwoom suffered a 1-2 shutout loss.
Chung used a slider (22 pitches), two-seam (20 pitches), curve (19 pitches) and fork (19 pitches) to attack the SSG bats. His fastball touched 140 kilometres per hour, but the SSG batsmen struggled with the change-up, including a curveball with a big drop, as they couldn’t get their timing right. Chung was dominant in his no-hitter, striking out four.
After declaring himself a free agent after the end of last season and not finding a team until the end of this year’s exhibition games, Chung finally got to play this season after signing a two-year, $860 million contract with his original team, Kiwoom. At the time of his signing, many congratulated Chung, but as the season progressed, he became more of a liability for Kiwoom.
Kiwoom had planned for Jang Jae-young to be their fifth starter this season. However, with Jang Jae-young and Lee Seung-ho struggling in succession, the door was opened for Chung. He quickly established himself as an indispensable starter for Kiwoom, going 1-3 with a 3.62 ERA in five games (32⅔ innings).
“He gave up a lot of runs in the first two games, but in the rest of the games, he’s really pitched like a starter,” said Hong Won-ki. This is very helpful for our pitching operation. In the last game against Lotte, he pitched after four days of rest for the first time since joining the team, and although he gave up a run, he did his job.”
Having become a key starter for Kiwoom, fans are eager to see if Chung can continue his good performance for the rest of the season. 먹튀검증