KIA finally recruited ML 88 home runs for $1 million...Expectations for a long shot
Dec 26, 2024
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KIA announced on the 26th that it signed a contract with foreign batter Patrick Wisdom (Wutuuta, born in 1991) for a total of $1 million, including a down payment of $200,000 and an annual salary of $800,000.
Wisdom is from Murrieta, California, USA, with a height of 188 cm and a weight of 99 kg, and played in the major leagues for seven seasons and in the minor leagues (hereinafter referred to as Triple A).
In the Major League, he played in 455 games, hitting .209 with 274 hits, 88 home runs, 207 RBIs and 192 runs, and in the Minor League, he hit .253 with 391 hits, 89 home runs, 277 RBIs and 248 runs. He played in 75 games for the Chicago Cubs this season, hitting 0.171 with 27 hits, 8 homers, 23 RBIs and 16 runs, and played 9 games in the minor leagues, recording 11 hits, 3 homers, 10 RBIs, 9 runs and a batting average of 0.407.
Wisdom has recorded more than 20 home runs in three consecutive seasons from 2021 to 2023 in the Major League, and is a player with excellent slugging power enough to record the most 28 home runs in a season. In addition to his long-shot power, he also has above-average running speed and compliance with throwing ability.
An official from KIA said, "Wizdom is a player who can defend first base, third base and outfield, and is highly used not only in offense but also in defense.""We expect it to play an important role in enhancing the team's long-shot power in the centerline.""
It was on the 15th (Korea Standard Time) that the U.S. media first announced the agreement between KIA and Wisdom. KIA invested more than 10 days to thoroughly check Wisdom's physical condition. This is due to the painful memory of bringing Will Crow (30), who has an injury history, to a total of $1 million (about 1.4 billion won) ahead of this season. Crowe took the mound in only eight games this year and complained of elbow pain, and eventually broke up with KIA as he took the surgery table.
Wisdom conducted medical tests in the United States and found no abnormal findings. KIA went through a procedure to check with the domestic medical staff once more based on the data examined in the United States, and tied the contract under the judgment that there was no problem.
Wisdom is a big shot that KIA picked after risking breaking up with the existing foreign hitter Socrates Brito (32). Socrates accompanied KIA for three seasons from 2022 to this year, recording 409 games, a batting average of 0.302 (487 hits in 1,613 at-bats), 63 home runs and 270 RBIs. He also contributed to KIA's overall victory this season by batting .310 (171 hits in 552 at-bats), 26 homers and 97 RBIs. Nevertheless, KIA decided that it needed a more powerful foreign hitter to win for the second consecutive year, and decided to recruit Wisdom after consideration.
KIA general manager Shim Jae-hak said, `When I signed Socrates last year, I thought the batting speed was a little better in the second season than in the first season. Socrates' batting direction had a strong tendency to pull, but it was expected that the possibility of hitting left-handed pitchers also increased due to restrictions on defensive shifts. He also showed very weak performance in left-handed pitchers' sliders, and he thought it would be okay until this season to overcome them little by little. Socrates had good classical statistics such as batting average and number of home runs this year. However, he was a really good player, but he needed a more powerful foreign hitter, as there were some indicators that were falling a little bit in the detailed stat, and the record showed that the defense was falling a little bit in the radius of action" he said.
KIA manager Lee Bum-ho checked Wisdom's batting video and expected him to be able to adapt well to the KBO league. Manager Lee "He is a fast-swinging player. I don't know if there were a lot of strikeouts in the U.S., but in the case of breaking balls thrown by pitchers in Korea, it may be noticeable, so I think if you adapt well, you should perform well enough" he evaluated.
rina1130@sportschosun.com
