60th pitch with his friend Lee Jae-won

Hanwha Eagles Ryu Hyun-jin, who was predicted to start the opening game of professional baseball, raised his physical condition with his second bullpen pitch.

Ryu Hyun-jin pitched a separate bullpen session ahead of a practice game against the Samsung Lions at Akama Stadium in Okinawa, Japan, on the 26th.

According to Hanwha, Ryu threw a total of 60 pitches on the day. He checked for breaking balls, including fastballs, main weapon changeups, sliders, curves, and cut fastballs.

He did not measure his speed, and Choi Won-ho, pitching coach Park Seung-min, and general manager Sohn Hyuk watched from the side.

As soon as Ryu Hyun-jin arrived in Okinawa, Japan, the club's spring camp site, on the 23rd, he made his first bullpen pitch at Kochida Stadium.

He threw 45 pitches at the time and took two days off before making his second bullpen pitch by increasing the number of pitches.

Ryu Hyun-jin plans to start the 2024 season regular season opener against the LG Twins at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 23rd of next month.

Meanwhile, catcher Lee Jae-won, who is the same age, received Ryu's bullpen pitching on the day, drawing attention. The two players from Incheon have a special relationship. Although they did not attend the same school, they continued to meet each other frequently in the Incheon area.

The two players grew into the best pitchers and catchers in high school early on, and they were named professionals side by side in the 2006 KBO League Rookie Draft.

Rookie of the year draft has been talked about so far. The SK Wyverns, who had the right to select players from Incheon, had agonized between Ryu Hyun-jin from Incheon Dongsan High School and Lee Jae-won from Incheon High School before nominating Lee Jae-won as the first pitcher.

With SK's choice, Ryu Hyun-jin moved on to the second nomination, and Hanwha, which had the second nomination right, recruited Ryu Hyun-jin as the Lotte Giants, who had the second nomination right, pointed to Na Seung-hyun, a former Gwangju Jeil High School player.

As the two players will continue the 2024 season in harmony, more attention is drawn. 토토사이트