Going into last week, pitcher Oh Seung-hwan of the Samsung Lions had appeared in 979 games in his career that stretched all the way back to 2005. All of those appearances - 620 in KBO with Samsung, 127 in his two years in NPB with the Hanshin Tigers and 232 in four years in MLB with St Louis, Toronto and Colorado - had been in relief. Oh had never started a game.
Until last Wednesday.
Oh was the starting pitcher that day against the Kiwoom Heroes. The 40 year old pitcher hasn't been pitching well this season and his pitching coach suggested that a start might help turn his season around. He pitched pretty well, going five innings and giving up three earned runs on five hits (including a home run). He struck out six and didn't walk anyone but ultimately took the loss when Kiwoom won 4-1.
It doesn't sound like this is going to be a permanent switch. The Lions demoted him to the farm team where he's expected to make a couple of relief appearances over the next week or so. The ultimate goal is for him to reclaim the closer's role that he lost earlier this season - he's got 496 career saves across the three leagues with his 374 in KBO being the career record.
Here's a card of Oh from his time in Japan (2015 BBM 2nd Version #503):
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