I'll hit 45 home runs. Confidence is crazy, I can't believe I'm going to break KIA's all-time record…ML's 88 home run pride is amazing

Feb 05, 2025

KIA Tigers Patrick Wisdom. Photo courtesy = KIA Tigers

"I'll hit 45 home runs"

It's a great confidence. KIA Tigers' new foreign hitter Patrick Wisdom (34) declared 45 home runs as his first season goal in the KBO League. Wisdom is currently spending its first spring camp with the KIA team in Irvine, California, USA, and has strengthened its commitment to surpass 40 home runs in the season. The number of home runs was set according to his number 45.

I didn't just say it as a joke. Wisdom was a major league player until last year, and after last season, he was planning to continue his career in the major leagues by playing in the Mexican Winter League. KIA, which desperately needed a right-handed hit, showed great interest in Mexico and looked at Wisdom's play, and Wisdom changed his mind to KIA's active courtship and chose a new challenge in Korea. I don't come to Korea with the intention of failing in the Major League and being treated appropriately well.

When Wisdom signed a $1 million contract with KIA, the most eye-catching history was the total number of home runs in the Major League. Wisdom played in a total of 455 games in seven major league seasons, batting .209 (274 hits in 1311 at-bats), 88 homers, 207 RBIs and an OPS of .750. It is true that the batting average falls, but he proved his power to cross the fence if caught. Wisdom may want to prove in Korea why he hit 88 home runs on the world's best stage, and will hit 45 home runs"I motivated myself, professing.

After confirming Wisdom's hit in the Mexican league, KIA General Manager Shim Jae-hak said, "He is not a bad ball heater. Badball heater is a random swing regardless of the strike zone, but it's not that kind of swing. However, the swing and miss rate is a little high on the ball entering the zone, but there is something we saw a little positive this time. We watched all the Mexican league games, and the Mexican league is, in a way, a lower league in the Major League. Pitchers in the Winter League are slightly higher than KBO pitchers, but Wizdom's adaptation is much better than his batting average and OPS. That's why I'm now convinced that it won't work in Korea."

KIA Tigers Patrick Wisdom. Photo courtesy = KIA Tigers

KIA manager Lee Bum-ho also said, `If Wizdom comes to Korea and starts playing in the league, I think I will adapt in about a month. He is a player who played in the Major League, so he is about 7-10 kilometers per hour apart from the speed (of KBO league pitchers). I think you can quickly get a sense of that speed change with your eyes. Also, Wisdom is in his early 30s, so I'm not too worried because I'm the one who can hit the hardest. He also expressed his expectation, saying, "I heard I'm close to James Nail (Korean pitcher), so I'll adapt him well, and I know my family will come to Korea as well."

As Wisdom vowed, hitting 45 home runs will set a new record for the club's all-time record. Throughout the KIA and Haitai seasons, Tracey Sanders was the only hitter in Tigers history to have more than 40 home runs in 1999. He recorded just 40 home runs that year, the most in a single season in the club's history. Wisdom is currently sweating with the goal of setting a new club record beyond Sanders for the first time in 26 years.

KIA is expected to be evaluated as a successful recruitment even if Wisdom hits 30 home runs. KIA's batting lineup is expected to become much stronger if Wisdom joins as the main hitters who can take responsibility for at least 20 home runs, such as Kim Do-young, Na Sung-bum and Choi Hyung-woo, are holding out.