The Kia Tigers, the leading team in the Korean Baseball Organization, have pulled out the foreign player substitution card. The Tigers are looking to consolidate their top spot and win the Korean Series.
The KBO announced the waiver of Kia’s foreign pitchers Aldred and Crowe on Friday. Crowe underwent surgery for an elbow injury in May. Kia released both Aldred and Crowe, who was brought in as a “replacement foreign player” to fill the void left by Crowe’s injury.
Crowe appeared in nine games for KIA, going 3-1 with a 4.53 ERA. The team decided that Aldred’s recent performances were not enough to win the regular season and reach the top of the Korean Series. Kia is reportedly close to signing Eric Lauer, who has 36 career wins in the major leagues as a clear No. 1 starter.
Aldred’s departure could create a mixed bag for the top teams. Aldred’s performance against certain teams has been polarizing.
Against LG, Aldred had a “love-hate” relationship. In two starts against LG, Aldred went 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA. In 12⅔ innings, he allowed two runs (unearned) on three hits with 15 strikeouts. He pitched well in the first meeting on June 20, allowing two runs (unearned) on six hits and two walks with six strikeouts in 6⅔ innings, and on July 11, he tossed a complete game shutout with nine strikeouts and no runs in 6⅔ innings. LG’s lefty-heavy lineup couldn’t hit Aldred’s pitches at all.
Aldred also pitched well against KT in one game, throwing five scoreless innings.
KT manager Lee Kang-cheol said of Aldred, “It’s a ball that lefties can’t hit easily. The ball was good.”
However, Aldred was weak against Doosan and Samsung. 메이저사이트 He was especially deadly against Doosan, which has a lot of right-handed hitters. In two appearances against Doosan, he was hit hard with a 15.95 ERA in two losses. He allowed 13 runs on 14 hits in 7⅓ innings.
His first start in a Kia uniform was against Doosan, where he gave up six runs on six hits in three innings. He allowed one run in the third inning, but instead of managing his pitch count in the first inning, he went into the fourth inning and threw 78 pitches, allowing five more runs. His last start was on July 30 against Doosan, where he gave up seven runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Aldred was also weak against Samsung. In two starts, he didn’t win or lose, but he had a high ERA of 8.22. In 7⅔ innings, he allowed seven earned runs. On July 3, he gave up four runs in 4⅔ innings, and on July 18, he gave up three runs in three innings.
Kia has four games remaining against LG and KT. They have six games against Samsung. They only have one game left against Doosan. By releasing Aldred, LG avoided a nemesis pitcher, and Samsung no longer has a pitcher with whom they have a good matchup. If Aldred hadn’t been released, he would have likely pitched against Samsung this weekend.
