Pro baseball Lotte Giants’ Song Jae-young (22) earned his first save since his debut.
Song Jae-young pitched as a relief pitcher in the game against SSG Landers in the ‘2024 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League’ held at Incheon SSG Landers Field on the 1st, recording a ⅔ inning, 2 strikeouts, and no runs.
Lotte succeeded in a 4-2 comeback by scoring 3 runs in the top of the 8th inning. Lotte, which had maintained a 2-run lead until the top of the 9th inning, had Koo Seung-min on the mound for the last defense in the bottom of the 9th. This was because the closing pitcher Kim Won-joong had thrown 35 pitches the day before and his pitching was not good, allowing 4 hits (1 home run), 1 walk, and 5 runs in ⅔ innings.
Koo Seung-min caught the leadoff hitter Jeong Jun-jae with a pitcher’s ground ball. However, during the defense, he was hit by a ball on his left hand, and because of this, he gave a straight ball walk to Lee Ji-young and Ha Jae-hoon in succession, creating a crisis with runners on first and second base with one out.
In the end, Koo Seung-min was replaced by Song Jae-young.
Song Jae-young, who came up to the mound in a crisis situation with a two-run difference and one out and runners on first and second base, actively competed with Choi Sang-min and struck out the batter on four pitches. 바카라사이트 In the following at-bat with Park Seong-han, he did not avoid the competition and actively confronted the batter, and eventually ended the game by throwing a fastball on the fourth pitch and striking out the batter on a swing.
Song Jae-young, who joined Lotte as a 2nd round (31st overall) nominee in the 2021 rookie draft, is a young prospect who has only recorded 2 losses, 1 hold, 1 save, and an ERA of 13.78 in 23 games (16⅓ innings) including this game. He enlisted in the military in 2022 and was discharged in November of last year. Song Jae-young, who played in 28 games (28⅓ innings) in the Futures League this year with 3 wins, 5 holds, and an ERA of 1.91, was called up to the first team several times and had opportunities to pitch, but did not show an impressive performance.
However, in the two games he pitched immediately after being called up on the 31st of last month, he showed a different side than before. In the game on the 31st of last month, he pitched in the bottom of the 11th inning of extra innings when the two teams were tied at 10-10, and struck out both Choi Ji-hoon and Jeong Jun-jae. In the save situation that day, he showed a perfect performance without wavering. This season, his record is 4 games (1⅔ innings), 1 save, and an ERA of 16.20.
Song Jae-young said in an interview after the game
Song Jae-young, who recorded his first save since his debut, said in an interview after the game, “When I went up to the mound, I said, ‘I can’t do the results with my own strength. I thought, ‘Let’s pitch without regrets and come down.’ I was nervous after the appearance, but catcher (Son) Seong-bin led me well, so I was able to hold the count and win. If I had to say something about my first save, I can’t believe it because it was a situation I had dreamed of, and it doesn’t feel real. I want to continue to play a helpful role to the team like I did today,” he said. Lotte ended their two-game losing streak with the win and succeeded in turning the mood around. Song Jae-young expressed his determination, saying, “I’m glad that I was able to break the team’s losing streak before I talk about my first save. I will work harder to be in a position where I can be a help to the team in the future.”