“They’re both righties”.
The focus is on the new foreign pitcher who will take the mound for the KIA Tigers in 2024. Other teams are close to signing, but only Socrates Brito has been re-signed ($1.2 million). The names of two of the most important pitchers have not been mentioned. Negotiations are ongoing and finalizing terms. An official announcement is expected early in the new year at the latest.
In the recent past, Kia has faced an ambiguous situation with foreign pitchers. After serving as a backup pitcher for two consecutive years, the organization placed Panoni on the 2024 pending list. It was a holdover. Panoni signed a minor league deal with the Cubs. He was an ambiguous pitcher who was too good to use and too bad to throw away, but he opted out of his contract. So we’re looking for two new pitchers.
Kia finalized the candidates and made an offer. Manager Shim Jae-hak said, “To be specific, there are various speculations. I can’t reveal their names, but they are both right-handed pitchers. Our native pitchers are all lefties, so we balanced the left and right.” Yang Hyun-jong, who is trying to reach 170 innings for the 10th consecutive year, Lee Yi-ri, who is aiming for a true ace, and Yoon Young-chul, who is trying to win 10 games for the second year in a row, are all lefties.
He also explained the process of shortlisting pitchers.
“In the past, we would watch videos sent by foreign agents and make our selections. Now, we use our international team to find players. 카지노사이트 We analyze various data such as vertical and horizontal movements, and then we make an offer to the agent,” he added.
At the same time, he acknowledged the difficulty of recruiting a fastball player. “If he throws a 150-kilometer fastball flat, he’s worth $3 million. It’s hard to get him under the $1 million cap. The price of American players has increased, so it’s hard to get a relief pitcher for $1 million. The situation has become difficult,” he said.
KIA is looking for a Korean pitcher who is not an overpowering reliever. Even if their velocity doesn’t reach 150 kilometers per hour, they are looking for pitchers who have a passing grade on their fastball, vertical movement, and changeup. “They’re not just pitchers in the minors. They both have some experience in the major leagues,” said Shim.
KIA has one of the best mounds among the 10 teams.
The homegrown starting rotation of Yang Hyun-jong, Lee Yi-ri and Yoon Young-chul is strong. The team is focusing on a six- to eight-man rotation to support the starters from the final camp to next spring training. Rookie Dae-hyun Cho has a lot of potential. The bullpen is not thin either. Kim Ki-hoon, Yoo Seung-chul, and other bullpeners can be reinforced.
Therefore, the presence of the two foreign starters makes a big difference in the mound performance. They have offensive power, including hitting and mobility, so if they can get 10 wins and an innings-eating performance, they could be a championship team right away. Or, if one of them performs like an ace, fall baseball is possible. I’m curious to see what kind of players they’ll find in a bad situation.