It was the first major league comeback in four years. In an era where 160km missiles come and go, he won a salvation victory with a 122km curve.
Ben Lively, who played for the Samsung Lions in the KBO League from 2019 to 2021, won a salvation victory in his return to the major leagues after 4 years. Lively took the mound as the second pitcher in the 2023 major league home game against the New York Mets held at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA on the 12th (hereinafter Korean time), giving up 4 hits and 1 strikeout in 3 innings. He threw 48 pitches and caught 29 strikes.
Lively made his major league debut in 2017 with the Philadelphia Phillies. He subsequently moved to the Kansas City Royals during the 2018 season, and also pitched in 1 game in 2019. After that, he was no longer in the position, and during the 2019 season, he made his KBO League debut as a substitute foreign pitcher for Samsung.
In fact, he wasn’t that impressive at Samsung. He signed a new contract in 2019, recording 4 wins and 4 losses with an ERA of 3.95 in 9 games. 6 wins and 7 losses in 21 games in the 2020 season, an average ERA of 4.26. He took a chance in 2021, but left the KBO league after recording 1 loss and an average ERA of 4.05 in 6 games.
Lively then went back to the minor leagues and tried to return to the major leagues. He signed a minor contract with the Cincinnati Reds. He was so-so with an average ERA of 4.09 with 2 wins and 5 losses in 18 games in the 2022 season. However, he started 4 out of 5 games this season and made a big success with 4 wins and an earned run average of 2.33. He struck out 16 and gave 11 walks in 27 innings. WHIP 1.07 and batting average 0.207.메이저놀이터
Then Cincinnati called Lively to the major leagues in a flash. And when starting pitcher Derek Law resigned with 1 strikeout, 1 walk and no runs in 1⅓ innings, he took the mound as the second pitcher and went 3 innings. He mixed sinkers, sliders, cutters in the low 90s, and curves in the mid to high 70s. He landed a strike with a 76.2 mph curveball on Francisco Lindor. He threw a 75.7 mile (about 122 km) curve to Brett Batty in the fourth inning. It was the lowest limit.
Lively is also a pitcher who is difficult to win in the major leagues with restraint. Command and pitch design are important. In that respect, it was refreshing for him to pitch efficiently with a 70-mph vs. super-slow curve. Anyway, you need to have a weapon to survive, so it was Lively’s first return to the major leagues in four years, which showed potential.