Lotte Giants left-hander Young-gun Kim Jin-wook won the 2025 season. He proved that the good pitching of the previous game was not a coincidence and led the team to its first consecutive win.먹튀검증

Kim Jin-wook took the mound as a starter and allowed six hits, one walk, three strikeouts and two runs (one earned) in five ⅓ innings in the first game between the teams of the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League Hanwha Eagles at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ball Park on Sunday. With Lotte winning 6-2, Kim Jin-wook garnered his first win of the 2025 season. 

Kim Jin-wook continued his quality start (more than 6 innings, 3 earned runs) with 4 hits, 1 homer, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts and 2 runs in 6 innings against Munhak SSG Landers on the 26th of last month, his first appearance in the 2025 season.

Kim Jin-wook said after the game, "I feel good that I reported my first win of the season a little faster," adding, "I was able to pitch well thanks to Yoo Kang-nam Hyuk, who worked with batteries."

In the bottom of the first inning, Kim Jin-wook sent out Hwang Young-mook, the leadoff hitter of the Hanwha Eagles, with a hit after the game to reach the 11th pitch, but he did not falter. With no outs and runners on the first base, Ahn Chi-hong grounded out to the third base, Floral struck out, and Noh grounded out to the shortstop to end the inning without allowing a run.

In the bottom of the second inning, Kim allowed Kim Tae-yeon to hit to the right after one out, and continued his pitching without wavering. Lee Jin-young and Lee Jae-won were thinned out with fly balls to right field, and continued their cruising.

Kim Jin-wook allowed consecutive hits to Hanwha leadoff batters Shim Woo-joon and Hwang Young-mook in the bottom of the third inning, putting him on the verge of first and second bases with no outs. Unlike in previous years, when he had difficulty in winning against batters at every crisis, he showed aggressive pitching on the day.

Kim Jin-wook treated An Chi-hong with a fly ball to center field for now, and took a breather for now. He induced Floral to hit an infield grounder with runners on the first and third bases with one out, and while the runner on the first base was forced out of the second base, the runner on the third base scored to trade the score and the out count. With runners on the first base with two outs, he caught Floral, the runner on the first base, in a check and got out of the crisis himself.

Kim Jin-wook did not collapse even in the bottom of the fifth inning, which was the biggest crisis. After walking leadoff hitter Lee Jin-young and sending out Lee Jae-won with a left-handed hit, Shim Woo-joon's surprise bunt hit at the first and second bases with no outs, the situation got twisted, but he survived.

Kim Jin-wook proved that he has changed in the crisis of first and third base with no outs following the third base runner's score after the error. First, he changed the flow of the game by striking out Hwang Young-mook, who had a hit against him in the previous two at-bats. Immediately, Ahn Chi-hong was thinned out with a double play and finished the bottom of the fifth inning in a good mood.

Kim Jin-wook then caught Hanwha's leadoff hitter Esteban Floral with a fly ball to center field in the bottom of the sixth inning and replaced him with Park Joon-woo to finish the mound. Lotte's bullpen neatly blocked Hanwha's pursuit and acquired its first win of the season.

"At the end of the first inning, Hwang Young-mook cut my ball so much that I thought, 'If you're going to get a hit, if you're going to get a hit, if you're going to give a walk, let's give it to you quickly,'" Kim Jin-wook said. "But I think I've overcome the crisis well. First of all, the breaking balls are controlled, so I think the batters are confused, and I threw well."

Meanwhile, Kim focused on sliders, his main weapon, including a fastball that hit a maximum speed of 146 km/h. He only threw four changeups, which he reportedly learned from Hanwha legend Ryu Hyun-jin last year. 

Kim Jin-wook asked Ryu, whom he had never met before, how to throw changeups for the sake of his growth. Even though he was a junior to another team, Ryu gave high marks to Kim, who courageously displayed his grip and how he felt when throwing.

As for the reason why he didn't throw a lot of changeups on the day, Kim Jin-wook said, "I didn't use it often because I think the changeup (it doesn't go in well) today," adding, "I think I'm still more confident than the changeup because the slider is a ball that I kept throwing."

"Even if I get hit, I have no regrets if I throw a ball that I'm confident in. I talked a lot about this with Yoo Kang-nam and went to the mound," he added.