Seoul: After notching his first win in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) in nearly two months Wednesday night, Doosan Bears pitcher Cole Irvin declared he is just getting started. "I'm not done yet. There's a lot of season left and a lot of starts left to put up good numbers," the American left-hander said, after shutting down the Samsung Lions for 5 1/3 innings in a 5-0 victory at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Irvin, a former big league pitcher, had lost five straight decisions before Wednesday. His previous win had come on May 5. The Bears even took him off their active roster at the end of May so that he could work on getting his groove back away from the daily grind. Irvin held the KBO-leading Hanwha Eagles to a run in six innings in his first game back on June 10, but then got knocked around for eight runs on 13 hits in only 2 2/3 innings against the Lions seven days later.
On June 26, Irvin only threw 3 1/3 innings while giving up a run on seven hits against the SSG Landers. With the Bears falling out of postseason contention -- they're still in ninth place at 32-46-3 (wins-losses-ties) even after Wednesday's win -- Irvin needed a bounceback effort fast. He finally delivered one Wednesday, though he came up two outs shy of a quality start -- at least six innings pitched with no more than three earned runs allowed.
"It's been about a month since I've been in the sixth inning so I was a little tired there," said Irvin, whose previous quality start came June 10. "I'm trying to throw a quality start every time but I was exhausted. I'm not going to deny that. When I throw a pitch and it's not my best ball, then I'm just going to be as honest as I possibly can. I want to be the best I can out there. And if I'm not giving my best like, I'm just going to hand it off to the next guy."
Irvin declined to get into specific reasons why he had struggled so much earlier in the season, though he revealed that he has moved from the third base side to the first base side of the mound, while also relocating his hands at setup and adjusting his pitch arsenal. "I prided myself in being a hard worker. I was just digging, digging deeper," he said. "I'm trying to make the adjustment as best I can every day and I'm just glad that the team has been very supportive and helpful in that process."
As for getting his revenge against the Lions two weeks after that rough outing, Irvin said he did his best to keep that outing off his mind. "When I'm going out there, I don't care about the last start. The next start is what's important," he said. "It doesn't matter the team. I could give up eight in two innings like I did (the last time), and then come out and pitch well like tonight. It's this start, this pitch, this opportunity and I'm just so blessed to be able to have it."
Bears interim manager Cho Sung-hwan said last month that he wanted to see Irvin smile more on the mound and not put too much pressure on himself. Irvin said he feels he had mostly done that since rejoining the team, although his results have not all been great. "I've come with a different mindset. I've come with a different energy to the field, and between those starts, I've come with a different preparation," he said. "You know, this game is humbling. You have to be able to accept failure and find ways to grow. I'm happy with today but I still got one more start before the All-Star break (on July 11) and a lot more season left."
Irvin has been leaning on an unlikely source for positivity -- the 19-year-old rookie starter Choi Min-seok, who threw a career-high seven innings of two-run ball in a losing cause Tuesday. "He's absolutely pitching fantastic," Irvin said of his teammate. "You have to play this game with childlike energy and he brings it every day and it's contagious."