Hanwha foreign pitcher Felix Pena (33) 안전놀이터 became a losing pitcher with 9 hits and 6 runs in 4 innings against KIA in Gwangju on the 26th. 4 innings is the lowest personal tie record this year. The previous two games were in April, when he struggled to control his condition due to pollen allergy. 

An unexpected variable occurred during the game that day. He blocked it well with one run until the third inning, but in the fourth inning, Socrates Brito, who was on first base safely, had a problem with Pena’s body. Blood flowed from his right hand as he threw the ball. The top of the thumb was scratched by the nails of the index and middle fingers while throwing a breaking ball. 

Pitching coach Park Seung-min came up to check the situation, but Pena continued pitching. Even in the blood, Peña continued to throw the ball, wiping the blood from his uniform pants. He continued pitching with a sense of responsibility as the first starter for a team that was losing four games in a row, but the results were disappointing. Only in the 4th inning, he was hit with 6 hits and allowed 5 runs in a big inning. Hanwha also failed to escape from a losing streak as they suffered a come-from-behind defeat 4-12. 

Pena, who has thrown 138 innings, the most in 24 games this season, with an average ERA of 3.39 with 8 wins and 8 losses, is playing the role of the first starter, but has been slowing down with 3 losses and an average ERA of 7.29 in the last 4 games. In the match against KT in Suwon on the 9th, it was a big collapse with 6 hits, 1 walk, 2 balls and 8 runs in 4⅓ innings. 

After that, he made a quality start with 3 runs in 6⅓ innings in 2 consecutive games, but collapsed again due to finger bleeding in the KIA game. It is a regrettable situation, but Hanwha coach Choi Won-ho sent unchanging faith to Pena. 

Coach Choi Won-ho said, “It’s not that Pena hasn’t been able to throw 3 or 4 games in a row. Any starter can throw well and go through a slump in one or two games. I don’t think I’m going to take it that seriously,” he said. It was a physically difficult time, and the parts that made it difficult to adjust my condition as it rained also worked in combination.” 

As coach Choi said, Pena showed a steady quality start in 13 out of 14 games from Jamsil Doosan on May 4th to Daejeon Doosan on August 3rd. The fact that Hanwha has been on the rise for two months since May was also largely due to Pena’s stable digestion of more than 6 innings. 

Fortunately, finger bleeding is also a temporary problem, so he prepares for the next appearance normally. Director Choi said, “The skin above the thumb was peeled on the nails of the index and middle fingers. It happens often when you press hard with his fingernails, but not every time. It would be nice to attach a bandage (no foreign substances used when pitching), but it can be a problem, so I can’t do that,” he said. “There is no problem with the next appearance.”