Ten of the 30 foreign professional baseball players who came to Korea this season packed their bags even before finishing the first half. Each club, which is 토토 가입머니 engaged in a fierce ranking battle, has issued extreme drugs to boldly replace foreign players who are sluggish or in poor physical condition.
Kiwoom changed its foreign batter on the 13th, the last day of the first half. As infielder Edison Russell, who was out of power due to a wrist injury, rarely recovered, he decided to replace him and recruited outfielder Ronnie Dawson, who played four Major League Baseball games.
This makes Russell the 10th foreign player to be kicked out of the KBO League this season.
Birch Smith (former Hanwha Eagles), who became the “first out” after 19 days of the season, Eni Romero (former SSG Landers), Brian Ogrady (former Hanwha), Dylan Pyle (former Doosan Bears), and Boschleser (former KT Wiz). Eric Jokisch (former Kiwoom), Adonis Medina, Sean Anderson (former KIA Tigers), Jack Rex (former Lotte Giants), and Russell left the team one after another.
By club, KIA, Hanwha, and Kiwoom used both replacement cards, while SSG, Doosan, Lotte, and KT changed one foreign player. On the other hand, the LG Twins, NC Dinos, and Samsung Lions spent the first half without replacing foreign players.
The pace of foreigners’ replacement has accelerated since late May.
Until early May, only Smith and Romero, who were closed due to injuries, were expelled. Smith, the opener’s starter, collapsed in one game, and Romero packed up without throwing a single ball.
However, as the ranking battle intensified in earnest, each club tried to strengthen its power by replacing foreign players who could not help. Starting with Ogredi, who was considered the worst foreign hitter on May 31, eight players left without completing the contract period in 44 days.
Professional baseball, which finished the first half of the season, is expected to compete fiercely until the end of the season for postseason qualification, with only 4.5 games to win from fourth-place NC to ninth-place Kiwoom.
As a result, there is a possibility that additional foreign players will be replaced. In particular, professional baseball is held normally during the Hangzhou Asian Games, which opens on September 23 and closes on October 9, so foreign players’ performance is important for the 10 clubs where key players are transferred to the national team to perform well.
The baseball rules stipulate that “foreign players registered after August 16 cannot play in the postseason of the year.” As it can be used in the postseason only when the replacement of foreign players is completed within August 15, the heads of seven clubs except for KIA, Hanwha and Kiwoom, which cannot change additional foreign players, have become complicated.