Samsung Lions' new foreign right-handed pitcher Chris Paddack showcased his big-league prowess in his debut, securing a victory for the team.
Paddack started in the home game against the Lotte Giants in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League held at Daegu Samsung Lions Park today (July 18). He delivered a dominant performance, pitching 6 scoreless innings while allowing only one hit and one walk, with 7 strikeouts.
Paddack met the requirements for a win and handed the mound over to Lee Seung-min in the 7th inning with a 4-0 lead.
The game ended 5-0, making Paddack the winning pitcher and extending the league-leading Samsung's winning streak to 3 games.
After striking out the final batter of the 6th inning, Ko Seung-min, Paddack shook hands with catcher Kang Min-ho with a satisfied expression.
Paddack threw 85 pitches, 56 of which were strikes.
His fastball reached a top speed of 152 km/h, and he utilized a six-pitch mix including a curveball, two-seam fastball, cutter, changeup, and forkball.
Paddack, who was playing in Major League Baseball (MLB) until the end of last month, is a high-profile pitcher who recorded 32 wins and 43 losses with a 4.83 ERA over his 8-year big-league career.
In 2019, he achieved a career-high 9 wins in a single season with the San Diego Padres.
Samsung took an early lead in the 1st inning with a two-run homer to center field by Koo Ja-wook and extended the lead to 3-0 in the 3rd inning with a solo shot to right-center by Kim Sung-yoon.
Koo Ja-wook led off the 5th inning with a double down the left-field line and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Lewin Diaz, widening the gap to 4-0.
Samsung added another run in the 8th inning.
Lotte's offense struggled, striking out 12 times and managing only 2 hits, resulting in their 3rd consecutive loss.
(Photo: Courtesy of Samsung Lions, Yonhap News)