Daejeon: Anders Tolhurst began the 2025 season in April with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the Double-A affiliate for the Toronto Blue Jays. He ended it Friday as the winning pitcher in the final game of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) campaign, as the right-hander helped the LG Twins capture the Korean Series championship.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Tolhurst threw seven innings of one-run ball in the Twins’ 4-1 win over the Hanwha Eagles in Game 5 of the KBO championship series at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in the central city of Daejeon.
Tolhurst reflected on his unexpected journey, stating, “I didn’t have this one on the bingo card, but it’s an amazing feeling just being able to come over here, and showcase my talent and play with these guys. We’ve got an amazing team. And it was definitely one of the best seasons I’ve ever played, and I’ll remember this forever.”
After starting the season in Double-A and moving up to Triple-A later in April, Tolhurst signed with the Twins in August as a replacement for Elieser Hernandez. In eight regular-season starts, Tolhurst posted a 6-2 record with a 2.86 ERA, allowing just one earned run in his first 25 innings across four starts.
Despite some struggles in September, Tolhurst regained his form in the Korean Series. In Game 1, he scattered seven hits over six innings, allowing two earned runs, and was named Player of the Game after an 8-2 victory.
With the Twins leading the series 3-1, Tolhurst returned to the mound in Game 5. After a shaky second inning, he allowed only a single run from a groundout. He navigated through the third inning with a double play and a strikeout, and then dominated the remaining innings with precision.
Tolhurst’s pitching arsenal included 46 fastballs, 21 cutters, 15 curveballs, 14 forkballs, and one slider. His efforts set the stage for relievers Kim Jin-sung and You Young-chan to each pitch a scoreless inning, securing the championship.
Twins manager Youm Kyoung-youb humorously noted that he pleaded with Tolhurst to pitch another inning after the sixth, to which Tolhurst eagerly complied, leaving everything on the field during his final inning.
Tolhurst expressed his determination, saying, “I told him that I was going to give him everything I had today. And I left everything on the field, and emptied the tank there in the seventh and gave it everything I had. I think the biggest thing was just being able to keep the team in the game, and that was a huge seventh inning just to be able to get out of that. They were super proud of me, and just being able to finish that was huge.”