Young right-handed pitcher Cho Byung-hyun (22) of SSG has already exceeded his pre-season goals. His goal this year was to hold or save double digits. He had four wins, six losses and 11 holds, 10 saves and an earned run average of 3.76 in 73 games through Sunday. Now, it is hard to imagine a backdoor policy without Cho.안전놀이터

Cho, who joined the SK Wyverns in 2021, joined the military athletic unit (Sangmu) the following year. Fast joining has become an ultimate step in retrospect. Cho, who recorded 12 games, three losses, one save and an ERA of 5.45 in the Futures League in his first year as a pro player, showed off his improved skills compared to his rookie years with four wins, one loss and one hold and an ERA of 3.77 in 11 games as a member of Sangmu in 2022.

In the 2023 season, he showed rapid growth with 43 games, two wins, two losses and 17 saves, four holds, and an earned run average of 2.25. Cho, who caught the eye of Korean national baseball team coach Ryu Joong-il, was selected for the Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) team in November last year. Manager Lee Soo-yong, who took the helm of SSG after the end of the 2023 season, also noticed Cho's talent after he joined the team after being discharged from the military. "He is a pitcher who throws his ball vigorously," Lee said at the time. "He has high potential for growth."

Cho is a pitching pitcher who throws balls up to 150 kilometers or faster, and has a high release point. "Even if he is not tall, he has high release points, which makes him more effective when throwing breaking balls," Lee said. His biggest advantage is his strikeout ability. This year, he became the second player in KBO history to strike out 10 consecutive batters since Lee Dae-jin (Haitai) in 1998. The number of strikeouts per nine innings is 11.81, ranking second only to Drew Anderson (12.34), a pitcher who played in more than 50 innings.

Cho Byung-hyun, who quickly secured the winning team after the opening, took charge of finishing the game from August instead of Moon Seung-won, who was shaking. He made a Blon save against Daegu Samsung on the 2nd of last month, when he made his closing debut, but he has adapted relatively well to an unfamiliar position. He has not given any points in 12 consecutive games since the LG Debut in Jamsil on the 21st of last month. The match against Suwon KT on the 22nd was a game where you can see Cho Byung-hyun's recent pitching sense.

"SSG, which was leading 6-2 at the bottom of the ninth inning thanks to Kim Kwang-hyun's six scoreless innings, pulled out Cho Byung-hyun's card when left-hander Han Doo-sol rushed to the second and third bases with no outs due to Oh Jae-il's walk and a double to the allocation table." Cho was able to give the opponent a chasing point with just one sacrifice fly. After striking out Oh Yoon-seok with five fastballs, Cho caught Shim Woo-joon with a fly ball to the first base, and even struck out the last batter, Mel Rojas Jr., with three pitches. SSG succeeded in recapturing the fifth place with six consecutive wins, and Cho earned his 10th save of the season.

In this season's KBO League, young finishing pitchers born in the 2000s are remarkable. If KIA has Jung Hae-young, KT has Park Young-hyun, Doosan has Kim Taek-yeon, and Kiwoom has Joo Seung-woo, SSG has Cho Byung-hyun.