Will the 159km 157km fireballer duo be different, with two consecutive years of forced meats and runs?

Jan 14, 2025

(left) SSG Mitch White, who joined as a new foreign pitcher, and Drew Anderson, who re-signed with SSG (right). Photo = AP Yonhap News Agency, Sports Chosun DB

SSG Landers were able to win when they saw the effects of foreign pitchers from the past SK Wyverns.

Merrill Kelly and Angel Sanchez were at the time of winning in 2018, and Wilmer Font was holding out as a key pitcher on the mound at the time of winning in 2022. The performance of substitute Sean Morimando was also fruitful.

However, after winning the championship, there was a player who twisted every year. Ivan Nova was also disappointed in 2022, but the vacancy was not revealed much because the font was so strong, but brutal deaths occurred for two consecutive years after winning that year.

In 2023, Annie Romero, who was ambitiously recruited for a total of $1 million, is the main character (?). Major League Baseball also showed promise, and his career of experiencing Japanese baseball received high scores, but he did not throw a single game in Korea. It is a case that was released early in the season after rehabilitation after shoulder pain occurred during a spring camp practice game.

Last year, Robert Duggar was forced to eat and run. Duggar was unscathed but too sluggish. In six games in the KBO League, he showed an incredible performance with no wins, three losses and a 12.71 ERA. He was selected as the Triple-A strikeout king with the expectation that he would be able to perform as much as the big leaguer, but the result was a crushing defeat.

Elias, who re-signed after signing as a substitute. Sports Chosun DB

Fortunately, when SSG's first-line foreign pitchers were sluggish, most of the players brought in were more than mid-range. After releasing Romero, Roenis Elias was brought in, and after releasing Duggar, Drew Anderson was brought in. They are all pitchers who have renewed their contracts with good performance.

This year, such failures should not be repeated again. To gain momentum early in the season, foreign pitchers must be accompanied unconditionally.

This season, SSG's foreign pitcher composition starts with Mitch White-Anderson. Anderson is a pitcher who has already been proven. In 24 games last year, he actually performed as an ace with 11 wins, 3 losses and a 3.89 ERA. In particular, he struck out 158 in 115 ⅔ innings, showing the prowess of 'strikeout machine'. However, considering that he showed physical difficulty, and that once he collapsed in the second half of the season, there were three mass loss games with more than six runs, the physicality is expected to be the key this year.

드류 앤더슨. Sports Chosun DB

Another question mark is first-choice resource white. White, also known as a Korean-born big leaguer, is the best in the league in terms of career and possibilities. He is a fireball-type pitcher with a maximum speed of 156 kilometers, and he has a high completeness of pitch types such as pitch-seam, slider, curve, and sweeper. SSG expected White's pitch type and average trajectory to be effective in the KBO League ABS environment.

However, foreign players are actually no different from lottery tickets. In many cases, before and after recruiting are different, the key to overseas leagues is how quickly White, his first experience, adapts to the KBO league atmosphere and how quickly he melts into the ABS zone, which many foreign players struggled last year.

SSG gave White a full guarantee of $1 million, the maximum amount that can be given to a new foreign player. White can also continue his challenge to enter the Major League, but he will try to make a big league U-turn like Eric Peddy after making a good impression this season in his mother's country of Korea.

The keys to SSG this season are actually held by two players, White and Anderson. White throwing up to 156km and Anderson spraying 159km. If synergy explodes positively, it can be the league's best one-two punch, but if the opposite result comes out, the worst emergency situation will explode. The fate of the team is at stake.

미치 화이트. Photo =SSG Landers

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.