The worst team in South Korean baseball in 2023 has lost a key starting pitcher for the season to an elbow injury.
The KT Wiz, stuck in last place in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) at 8-19-2 (wins-losses-ties), announced Thursday right-hander So Hyeong-jun will soon undergo season-ending elbow reconstructive surgery. The procedure is commonly known as Tommy John surgery.
So last pitched on Wednesday against the NC Dinos, and was charged with four earned runs on seven hits in 3 2/3 innings before taking himself out of the game with elbow pains.
The Wiz said So has been diagnosed with torn ligament in his pitching elbow.
So won the Rookie of the Year award in 2020 after going 13-6 with a 3.86 ERA as a 19-year-old. He has been a mainstay in the Wiz rotation since, and also represented South Korea at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in March this year.
So struggled mightily in the tournament and it carried over to the KBO season. He was roughed up for nine runs on 10 hits in just 2 1/3 innings in his season debut on April 2, and then missed a month of action with right forearm strain.
So pitched well in his return on May 3, holding the SSG Landers to a run on five hits in five innings, but the elbow flared up in his next outing seven days later.
So is expected to rejoin the Wiz in the second half of next season.
So logged a career-high 171 1/3 innings in 2022, a significant jump from 119 innings in 2021. So then had a shorter offseason than usual because he had to start preparing for the WBC in early March, a time when pitchers typically ease into game action in spring training scrimmages.
The Wiz have the worst team ERA at 5.09 so far this season, including a 7.94 mark in May.
The Wiz have been decimated by injuries up and down their roster. They are already without two veteran relievers Ju Kwon and Kim Min-su due to forearm and shoulder injuries, respectively. Outfielder Bae Jung-dae has been sidelined since late March with a broken hand, and third baseman Hwang Jae-gyun suffered a broken toe last week that will rule him out for at least a month.
First baseman Park Byung-ho, the reigning league home run king, hasn't played since April 29 because of hamstring problems.
Source: Yonhap News Agency