Oh Seung-hwan (41, Samsung), who once conquered the graves of pitchers, was selected as the best trade of the Colorado Rockies in the 21st century major league.
On the 27th (Korean time), MLB.com, the official homepage of Major League Baseball, selected and announced the ’21st Century Trade Deadline’s Best Recruitment’ for each of 30 clubs.
Oh Seung-hwan’s name was mentioned in Colorado, which belongs to the National League West Division. From 2018 to 2019, Oh Seung-hwan left an average ERA of 5.67 with 5 wins, 1 loss and 1 save in 46 games in Colorado, which uses Coors Field, the grave of pitchers, as a home stadium.
MLB.com said, “At the time when Colorado traded Seung-Hwan Oh from the Toronto Blue Jays, Seung-Hwan Oh was not well known. However, Oh Seung-hwan had a remarkable performance with 2 wins, 1 save and an average ERA of 2.53 in 25 games in the first year after moving to Colorado,” he recalled.
The strong side of Oh Seung-hwan’s big game was also highlighted. MLB.com said, “Oh Seung-hwan took the mound in the bottom of the 10th inning in the 2018 National League wild card match against the Chicago Cubs and pitched 1⅔ scoreless innings, leading Colorado’s most recent postseason victory. At that time, Colorado won 2-1 after a bloody battle in the 13th overtime,” pointing out Colorado’s moment of glory with Oh Seung-hwan.메이저놀이터
Oh Seung-hwan, who played an active role as a top-class closer for the Samsung Lions of the KBO League and the Hanshin Tigers of the Nippon Professional Baseball, realized his dream of advancing to the major leagues by signing with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2016. At the time, with his debut, he showed off his overwhelming pitch, pushing the starting finisher Trevor Rosenthal, and winning 39 saves for two years.
Oh started the 2018 season with the Toronto Blue Jays and was traded to Colorado in July. At the time, when the Colorado club recruited Oh Seung-hwan, they gave outfielder Forest Will and first baseman Chad Spanberger cash or a later player nomination as compensation.
Unlike his performance in the 2018 season, Oh Seung-hwan suffered a sluggish 2019 season with an average ERA of 9.33, 3 wins and 1 loss in 21 games, and suffered the pain of being released in July. Later, in early August, he signed with Samsung and returned to the KBO League stage.
Oh’s career record in the major leagues is 16 wins, 13 losses, 42 saves, and an ERA of 3.31 in 232 games. Earlier this month, Oh Seung-hwan set a milestone of 500 saves in Korea, the U.S. and Japan.