Even the 30th hold of the season was filled as he was about to be selected for the Asian Games national team. Park Young-hyun (20, KT Wiz), who has established himself as a leading bullpen pitcher in the league just two years after his debut, is one step closer to the title of ‘Youngest Hold King’.
Park Young-hyun took the mound in the bottom of the 8th inning with the team leading 5-2 in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League NC Dinos game held at NC Park in Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do on the 13th, and pitched 1 inning with 2 strikeouts and no runs.
With this, Park Young-hyun recorded his 30th hold of the season. Park Young-hyun, who was 19 years, 11 months and 2 days old as of today’s match, became the youngest player ever to achieve 30 holds. The previous record was held by Han Hyun-hee (Lotte Giants) at the age of 21 years, 3 months, and 20 days while playing for the Nexen Heroes in 2014.
Han Hyun-hee, who previously became the youngest player to achieve 20 holds, created a meaningful indicator by reaching 30 holds before being selected to the Asian Games national team.
Park Young-hyun is ‘Young-geon’, who joined KT after being selected in the first round last year. From the first year of his debut, he played in the second half of the season and played 51⅔ innings in 52 games. In the second game of the semi-playoffs against Kiwoom Heroes, he set a new record for the youngest save in the postseason (19 years and 6 days old).
Park Young-hyun has become stronger this season, entering his second year. His original strengths, a fastball and a sharper slider, made it more difficult for batters to target him. He had ups and downs because he played quite a few innings, including two consecutive pitches, three consecutive pitches, and multiple innings, but the period was not long.온라인바카라
Park Young-hyun, who was shaken by an ERA of 9.35 in July, regained stability in August (2.25) and September (1.80) and is once again firmly protecting the team’s back door.
If things continue like this, the title of Hold King is getting closer and closer to Park Young-hyun. Currently, the second place in holds after Park Young-hyun is Noh Kyeong-eun (SSG, 24 holds), and the third place is Koo Seung-min (Lotte, 21 holds), so there is a considerable gap.
The Asian Games convened next week may be a variable, but considering the gap with latecomers and the fact that the regular season remains after the Asian Games, the situation is currently in Park Young-hyun’s favor.
If Park Young-hyun wins the title, he will also take home the honor of being the ‘youngest hold king’ in the KBO League.
To date, the youngest hold king of all time was Han Hyun-hee (27 holds) in 2013. At that time, Han Hyun-hee, like Park Young-hyun this season, won the hold title in her second year as a professional and in her 20th year of age. However, since Han Hyun-hee was born in June and Park Young-hyun was born in October, Park Young-hyun can break the ‘youngest’ record.
For Park Young-hyun, the best scenario is to return from the Asian Games with a gold medal and then win the Hold title.