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Orioles’ Yoon Suk-min makes successful debut

March 17, 2014
Pitches one scoreless inning against Yankees to notch his first preseason win
Yoon finally got on the mound on Saturday. (AP)

Yoon finally got on the mound on Saturday. (AP)

By Lee Kyutae

The Baltimore Orioles’ new Korean pitcher Yoon Suk-min looked sharp in his much anticipated debut.

Delayed by visa-related problems, the 27-year old right-hander Yoon finally made his Orioles debut Saturday afternoon in Florida. He only threw 11 pitches, but did not allow a run against the mighty New York Yankees.

Yoon’s first pitch was clocked at 91 mph, which appeared to be on the generous side, but gave him confidence. He said after the game, “I honestly thought I was going to throw about 88, but once I saw the 91, I got pumped.”

Yoon said he was nervous, but not as much as he thought he’d be.  He also stated that it will take about 20-days for him to get in “mid-season form.”

Yoon’s second pitch was hit for a single by the Yankees minor leaguer Ramon Flores, but he then induced two fly balls and a ground-out to become the winning pitcher his first time out. The Orioles defeated the Yankees 2-1.

Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph was impressed that Yoon kept throwing strikes even after giving up the first hit, and said, “He didn’t look nervous at all to me. He looked like he had done it a million times.”

The Orioles manager Buck Showalter said he liked the composure Yoon showed.

Yoon is expected to start at Triple-A Norfolk, but the Orioles believes he will be able to help the big league staff this year.

Yoon signed a three year, $5.75 million deal with the Orioles in middle of February.