{"id":260618,"date":"2026-05-17T01:21:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T16:21:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/uncategorized\/2026\/05\/17\/owen-whites-impressive-return-how-he-dominated-in-his-kbo-debut-against-kt\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T01:21:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T16:21:32","slug":"owen-whites-impressive-return-how-he-dominated-in-his-kbo-debut-against-kt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tenbizt.com\/en\/news\/sports\/2026\/05\/17\/owen-whites-impressive-return-how-he-dominated-in-his-kbo-debut-against-kt\/","title":{"rendered":"Owen White’s Impressive Return: How He Dominated in His KBO Debut Against KT"},"content":{"rendered":"

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[MyDaily \u2014 Suwon correspondent Kim Jin-seong] Owen White of the Hanwha Eagles returned with an impressive outing, but Kang Baek-ho\u2019s seven-RBI barrage stole the headlines.<\/p>\n

On May 15, Hanwha closed out the six-week injury-replacement contract with reliever Jack Cushing. The club chose not to extend Cushing\u2019s deal and activated White for the May 16 road game in Suwon against the KT Wiz. White had left his March 31 debut in Daejeon after just 2 1\/3 innings due to a hamstring injury and spent the intervening weeks rehabbing.<\/p>\n

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With White sidelined, Hanwha leaned on domestic starters while Cushing handled late-inning duties. Though labeled a closer, Cushing often pitched multiple innings and entered games with big leads, functioning more like a traditional shutdown reliever. Hanwha parted ways on good terms with Cushing, praising his team-first approach, and now hopes White will help stabilize both the rotation and the bullpen.<\/p>\n

White needs to hold down a rotation spot alongside Wilkel Hernandez, Ryu Hyun-jin, Wang Yen-cheng and Jung Woo-ju. In that context, his return \u2014 effectively a true debut \u2014 was encouraging. Even without Ahn Hyun-min, White produced dominant innings against a well-constructed KT lineup.<\/p>\n

White picked up his delayed first KBO win, going 6 1\/3 innings, allowing three hits, striking out four, walking one and yielding two runs (one earned). What stood out was the variety: KT\u2019s scouting report showed he used seven different pitches. His four-seam reached 153 km\/h, while his two-seam topped out at 150 km\/h.<\/p>\n

He mixed 39 four-seamers, 19 sweepers, nine curveballs, seven two-seamers, six cutters, four forkballs and one slider. In spring-camp exhibitions his four-seam sat around 150 km\/h, but it ticked up in this return. He\u2019s a pitcher who relies on movement, so once he adjusts to ABS, he could regularly turn in high-quality starts.<\/p>\n

In the second inning, a cutter to leadoff batter Sam Hilliard turned into an infield hit toward second. White then made a wild pickoff throw to first, but with a runner on second and nobody out he settled down and attacked the heart of the order. He used fastballs to induce a foul popup to first and a grounder to second from Heo Kyung-min, Jang Seong-woo and Kim Min-hyuk. While some pitches rode, he also used the high zone effectively.<\/p>\n

He conserved energy against the lower third of the order by leaning on his sweeper and curve, and that approach paid dividends as the lineup turned over. Facing power hitter Jang Seong-woo in the fifth, White attacked low with a heavy four-seam to induce a weak out and kept changing his patterns well. In the seventh, with one out and a runner on first, he appeared to lose a bit of juice and issued a straight pitch walk to Jang Seong-woo, but overall his outing was strong.<\/p>\n

Hanwha still has questions around Hernandez\u2019s consistency. If White can lead the rotation alongside Ryu and Wang, the staff will be in much better shape. Kang Baek-ho\u2019s offensive eruption was the game\u2019s headline, but from a long-term standpoint, White\u2019s healthy return may be the bigger takeaways for the club.<\/p>\n

After the game, White said, \u201cI think it was a good win for both me and the team. I attacked hitters to induce contact, and the defense helped a lot, which made the win possible. I\u2019m grateful to my teammates. I trusted catcher Heo In-seo and threw to his calls. I\u2019d watched his recent games and felt his pitch-calling was strong, so I put full trust in him and it paid off. Honestly, I would have liked to go through the seventh, but the team had a plan, and I felt comfortable trusting the relievers coming in.\u201d<\/p>\n

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White added, \u201cThe rehab process wasn\u2019t difficult; I trusted the club\u2019s program. I was also moved when teammates wrote \u201824\u2019 on their caps \u2014 that made me want to return quickly and help the team. My first win was a bit delayed because of the injury, but I\u2019ll work to bring many more victories to this club.\u201d<\/p>\n

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