Hanwha Eagles reliever Kim Seo-hyeon pitches against the Kia Tigers during the clubs' Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, Thursday. Courtesy of Hanwha Eagles.

The Hanwha Eagles couldn't have asked for a better spot to get their slumping reliever Kim Seo-hyeon into Thursday night's game.

The Eagles were leading the Kia Tigers 11-4 entering the bottom of the ninth inning and the Tigers had managed only three hits up to that point. For relievers, this was as stress-free as it could get.

Kim, back in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) after spending his minimum 10 days in the minors, failed to record an out. He faced five batters and all of them got on base, as Kim plunked two, walked another, and gave up two hits.

The Eagles summoned Jack Cushing to clean up the mess and they hung on to win the game 11-8. Kim was charged with three earned runs.

Kim's numbers for the season are mind-boggling. He has a 12.38 ERA, with 11 earned runs allowed over eight innings. He has surrendered more walks (15) than hits and strikeouts combined (14). Kim has hit four batters to tie for third in the KBO in that category. Ten pitchers have plunked at least four batters this season and Kim is the only one in the group to have thrown fewer than 10 innings. Of the 52 batters Kim has faced, 28 have reached base.

This year, the Eagles have been trying what they can to help Kim rediscover his All-Star form from long stretches of last season.

They removed him from the closer's role after a particularly disastrous game on April 14, when the right-hander issued six walks as the 5-0 Eagles lead over the Samsung Lions turned into a 6-5 loss. When control issues persisted, the Eagles sent Kim down to the Futures League, where they hoped the 21-year-old would be able to regroup, mentally and physically.

In his first Futures League outing last Saturday, he allowed three runs on two hits and a walk in two innings. Two days later, he struck out the side in his lone inning of work.

After that promising outing, the Eagles called up Kim for Thursday's game. KBO players demoted to the Futures League are required to spend at least 10 days there and the Eagles chose to bring Kim as soon as the pitcher reached that threshold.

Source: Korea Times News