KIA, which is struggling to return to the front line of the postseason, replaced foreign pitchers at once over two mornings and afternoons on the 6th. Ahead of this season, newly recruited Adonis Medina (27) and Sean Anderson (29) all packed up.
The replacement of Medina was predicted early. He was sluggish with an ERA of 6.05 with 2 wins and 6 losses in 12 games for the season. He had a two-seam with a speed of 150 km/h and a slider with a good angle in his own way, but that was it. He couldn’t use the materials he had in the game, and when runners left, he shook violently and failed to instill trust. In the end, on June 21, after the match against Hanwha in Daejeon, he went down to the 2nd Army.
At the time, KIA coach Kim Jong-guk said, “I don’t think there will be a mound in the first team,” which was a replacement sign. It was an exit procedure. Anderson, however, was a little different. Anderson, who started the season with high expectations to the point of starting the team’s opening game this year, maintained the rotation until the game against LG in Jamsil on July 2nd.
Unlike Medina, Anderson is known to have had a lot of troubles internally at KIA. This is because Anderson’s grades were not at the level of ‘urgent expulsion’ like Menina. Anderson played 79 innings in 14 games this season, recording a 3.76 ERA and 1.29 WHIP per inning. Looking at this record alone, there are actually quite a few players worse than Anderson.안전놀이터
Accordingly, there was an analysis that it was necessary to be sure that the player to be replaced was better than Anderson, and that it would not have been easy to send Anderson if Thomas Panoni, who played as a foreign player last year, had not been released. This is because the current pool of substitute foreign players in the United States is narrow. It can be seen that KIA also had its own adventures.
Anderson recorded eight quality starts (less than 3 earned runs in 6 or more innings) in 14 games this year. In terms of percentage, it is 57.1%. This ranks 12th in the league among players with 10 or more starts. After adjusting once in the second group, the average ERA in four games since June 8 was 2.96, and he recorded three quality starts. His overall graph seemed to bottom out and rise.
So what drew attention was the ‘selection of other teams’. Currently, among the 10 teams in the KBO League, some teams have replaced foreign pitchers, and there are still a few teams that are waiting to see the market situation with replacements. It was also interesting to see if a team that fits the ‘puzzle’ comes out when various factors such as the team’s situation, the prospect of the foreign market from the team’s perspective, and Anderson’s skills from the team’s perspective are combined. Since the waiver announcement was made, I was able to take priority in order.
But no team wanted Anderson. Anderson announced a waiver on the 6th, but the other nine clubs all passed Anderson and the waiver procedure was completed in one day. It means that there is no team to worry about. An official familiar with the situation said, “There was no great interest from other teams, and KIA also recognized that there was a low chance of hitting a boomerang (Anderson went to another team).” I don’t want to show it,” he analyzed.
Anderson throws a fastball in the mid to late 140 km/h range. If restraint is stopped, it works well enough in the KBO league. The rotational speed is also very good. However, the vertical movement itself is not a good player. He didn’t show how to overwhelm opponents with his fastball as expected. In addition, the slider proportion was too high, showing the limit of ‘two pitches’. KIA also highly evaluated Anderson’s personality, but said, ‘It is difficult to endure with two pitches. I had the perception that this score was the limit. It was the same with other teams.
The fact that the team considering replacing a foreign pitcher is not a low-ranking team, but a team aiming for postseason advancement and more, and that the existing foreign player has a track record and is watching for the time being also made market conditions unfavorable to Anderson. With the deadline for replacing foreign players (based on postseason appearances) approaching, it has become a matter of interest whether a better player than Anderson will appear in the market.
