The pitcher, who left KIA and returned to Taiwan, two years and $1 million ↑ jackpot exploded

Mar 04, 2025

마리오 산체스. Sports Chosun DB

Mario Sanchez made a comeback to Taiwan after failing to renew his contract with the KIA Tigers after a disappointing performance. He's heading to Taiwan again.

Sanchez is a pitcher that KIA recruited as an alternative foreign pitcher in the 2023 season. He broke up with the sluggish Adonis Medina and recruited him, who was doing well in the Taiwanese CPBL.

It was a good start. In his KBO League debut, he made a perfect pitch against KT Wiz with 10 strikeouts and one run in 6 ⅓ innings, creating a "sense". However, since then, unique checks and double-kicking pitching form have been pointed out, and since then, sluggishness and injuries have overlapped. Sanchez failed to renew his contract after leaving a disappointing performance of 4-4 with a 5.94 ERA in 12 games for KIA.

After failing to renew his contract with KIA, he went back to Taiwan. He returned to his original team, the Uni Lions, and went 14-5 with a 2.49 ERA in 26 starts last season. This level of performance is the highest level in the league. Sanchez ranked first in the CPBL multiple wins and fourth in the lowest ERA last season. In his team, Uni, he also played 'one-two punch' with Gurin Ruyang, who is now transferred to the Nippon Ham Fighters.

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However, after the season, Sanchez refused to renew his contract with Uni. The club offered Sanchez to renew the contract, but the player expressed his intention to refuse. At the time, Uni said that Sanchez could return to the major league system. The team is looking at other foreign pitcher candidates, but in fact Sanchez seems to have received a better offer.

The rival Jungshin Brothers succeeded in catching Sanchez. According to the 'Liberty Sports' on the 4th, Jungshin signed a two-year guarantee contract with Sanchez, and the guarantee amount is more than $1 million (about 1.46 billion won). In CPBL, this level of coverage is class S.

Sanchez's decision to break up with Uni seems to be due to differences in these conditions, not to seek a return to the Major League. Jungshin, who is not spared in investment, actively sent a love call to Sanchez, who is showing top-notch performance, and drew a two-year guarantee contract, allowing him to continue his performance for at least two seasons more stably.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.