Участник:I will make up for it in time for the season.
Felix Peña (Hanwha Eagles), who took the mound for the first time since entering Okinawa, vowed to show good performance in the future.
Peña played as Hanwha's starting pitcher in a practice game against the Samsung Lions at Onnason Akama Stadium in Okinawa, Japan on the 26th.
Peña, who first became a foreign player to replace Nick Kingham in 2022, had five wins and four losses and a 3.72 ERA in 13 games (67.2 innings) that year. Last year's performance was also excellent with 11 wins and 11 losses and a 3.60 ERA in 32 games (177.1 innings). Peña should play a role in Hanwha's starting lineup this season as well.
To that end, Peña sweated a lot during the off-season. In the second practice match against the Australian national baseball team held at Ball Park in Melbourne, Australia on the 18th, he started the game, and recorded one hit, one strikeout and no run in the first inning.
After entering Okinawa, he held his first real match against Samsung. However, the results were not good.
He was nervous from the start. He took the mound in the bottom of the first inning with three runs in his back, but was shaken up by giving up a hit to the center field and a steal to the second base to Kim. Peña, who was pushed to the first and second bases with no outs by giving a walk to Kim Hyun-jun, took the first run after Koo Ja-wook hit a timely hit to the right field.
Peña, who reported his first out count after an overrun Kim Hyun-joon was out at second base, then caught Koo Ja-wook as a checker. He ended the inning with a swing and miss strikeout to David McKinnon.
In the bottom of the second inning, Peña was somewhat shaken. He got a hit to the center field by Kang Min-ho, the leadoff hitter, and gave up a walk to Oh Jae-il. Ryu Ji-hyuk, the follow-up hitter, handled it as a fly to the center field, but in the meantime, Kang Min-ho settled on the third base, leading to one out and runners on the first and third bases. Peña then struck out Kim Young-woong, but allowed Kim Sung-yoon and Kim Ji-chan an RBI timely double and an RBI timely infield hit, respectively.
Peña's pitch count reached 50 before long, and the Hanwha bench replaced the pitcher with right-hander Jang Min-jae. Jang Min-jae did not give up a home run to succession runners, and Peña's earned run did not increase.
The final score was 1.2 innings, two walks, four hits, two strikeouts and three runs. Out of a total of 48 balls, he used fastballs (26) with a maximum speed of 145 kilometers and an average speed of 143 kilometers. He also used some changeups (20 balls) and sliders (2 balls).
It's certainly not a satisfactory outcome, but because it's a practice match, performance doesn't matter much. Peña felt the same way.
"My physical condition was generally good," Peña said. "There are times when I throw poorly and times when I throw well. I don't care much about today's game."
Instead, he vowed to show better performance in the future. "Based on today's game, I will try to make up for what needs to be improved in time for the season," Peña said.
Meanwhile, Hanwha, which had a 5-5 draw with Samsung, will return home on March 4 after facing off against KT Wiz (28th, March 3) and Lotte Giants (2nd).