Hanwha lost 2-3 in the season opener against Kiwoom in Gocheok on April 1st. The losing pitcher at the time was veteran right-hander Jang Si-hwan (36). In the bottom of the 10th inning when the score was tied 2-2, he got on the mound as the team’s 8th pitcher and allowed Kiwoom Lee Hyeong-jong a timely hit. For Jang Si-hwan, it was the moment when he had the league’s highest record of ’19 consecutive losses’.메이저놀이터
Jang Si-hwan, who played as Hanwha’s starting pitcher in the 2020 season, recorded 4-14 and an average ERA of 5.02 in 26 games. The last victory of the year was against Doosan on September 22, when he pitched 6 innings and 1 run. After finishing the season with two consecutive losses in the last three games of the season, he recorded 11 losses (one hold) without a win in 19 games the following year. Before he knew it, his losing streak increased to ’13’.
Last season, when he changed positions and played an active part in the bullpen, he did his part with 5 losses, 14 saves, 9 holds, and an ERA of 4.38 in 64 games. However, during his 5 losses, he never managed to tie a win. Suddenly, the losing streak became the same as Shim Soo-chang (retired, 18 consecutive losses), who was the record holder at the time. Jang Si-hwan, who added a loss in the first game of the new season, recorded an average ERA of 13.50 in 3 games and went down to the second team in 8 days.
Sihwan Jang broke the chain of vicious losing streak in the match against Gocheok Kiwoom, which unfortunately put a yoke on him of 19 consecutive losses. Jang Si-hwan, who was re-registered in the first team at the beginning of last month, was replaced at the bottom of the 7th inning against Gocheok Kiwoom on the 25th, trailing 3-6, and blocked one inning neatly. The silent Hanwha line-up hit Kiwoom pitchers in the beginning of the 8th inning and scored 13 points, and Hanwha also won 16-6. The winning pitcher was Jang Si-hwan.
Jang Si-hwan, who threw off the shackles of losing streak, made a powerful leap forward. After his return to the first team, his performance is 1 win, 1 save and 4 holds in 16 games with an average ERA of 1.06, which is the most reliable winning resource among Hanwha bullpen pitchers.
During this period, his batting average was 0.109 and his WHIP (on-base percentage per inning) was stable at 0.75. It is not difficult to solve the game with opponent batters with the power of breaking balls such as fast balls in the second half of 140 km/h and well-controlled curves and sliders. Since August, when he is being put in as a pitcher for victory, he has continued a scoreless streak of 9 consecutive games. He perfectly fills the void created by the hunting of existing bullpen pitchers such as Yoon Dae-kyung and Kang Jae-min.
Jang Si-hwan, who was worried about ‘retirement’ due to a losing streak, has now emerged as an indispensable presence for Hanwha in the second half.