Peddy, Hart's gone, but...NC's perspective on 'Korean pitcher master' will work again?
Peddy, Hart's gone, but...NC's perspective on 'Korean pitcher master' will work again?
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Will the NC Dinos' eye of professional baseball, which proved to be a "foreign pitcher master," shine next year.먹튀검증
NC has produced the Golden Glove for two consecutive years this year following last year. Eric Peddy was the best pitcher in the KBO League in the 2023 season. He was overwhelmed. Peddy played in 30 games and posted a whopping 20-6 record with 209 strikeouts and an ERA of 2.00 in 180 ⅓ innings.
He won the Triple Crown (three gold medals) in the pitching category. He had multiple wins, struck out, and earned run average (ERA) first. Sun Dong-yeol was the only pitcher who had 20 wins and 200 strikeouts at the same time before Pedi in 1986.
After the season ended, it was up to Peddy to win various awards in the pitching categories. At the KBO award ceremony, he won the defense award in the pitching category and the MVP award in the regular season. At the Golden Glove award ceremony, he won 267 out of 291 valid votes, garnering a landslide 91.8 percent of the vote and pocketing a golden glove.
Peddie left the dinosaur team after the 2023 season. After signing a contract with the Chicago White Sox of the U.S. Major League Baseball, he made a splendid comeback to the big leagues. Peddie moved his team during this season and is currently playing for the St. Louis Cardinals.
The player who filled the vacancy was Kyle Hart. He had to fill the void left by Paddy, who had the best record in KBO history, but Hart fully fulfilled his role.
In this season, Hart pitched 157 innings in 26 games. He displayed 13 wins, three losses and 182 strikeouts with an earned run average of 2.69. Although his performance was not as overwhelming as that of Peddy, he tied for third with multiple wins, No. 1 with strikeouts, No. 2 with an earned run average, and No. 2 with a winning rate (0.813) in the league.
Hart also swept various awards including the Pitcher Award at the end of the season. He received the Defensive Player Award at the KBO award ceremony, and won 119 of 288 valid votes at the Golden Glove ceremony, earning 41.3 percent of the vote.
NC has become a "foreign pitcher master" who has produced Golden Glove pitchers for two consecutive years. However, the team had to send its best pitcher back to the U.S. in a year after Peddy and Hart.
The NC Dinosaurs did their best to renew their contracts with Hart. Lee Ho-joon, who will take the helm from next year, also wanted to renew his contract with Hart as a gift for his inauguration.
However, Hart showed strong will to return to the U.S. He only played in four MLB games before coming to Korea. He only lost one game and posted an ERA of 15.55 in the 2020 season without winning. After the end of the season, there were reports that a number of local teams showed interest in Hart.
In the end, NC has decided to break up with Hart. "We did our best to renew the contract with Hart, but we will respect his intention to return to the U.S.," NC said. "We wish him good performance in the U.S.." However, NC maintains its right to hold off on Hart. When Hart returns to the KBO League, only NC can negotiate.
Though the team had to pass the league's best pitcher for two consecutive years, NC hopes to find a breakthrough through new foreign pitchers. It recruited right-hander Riley Thompson and left-hander Logan Allen in turn to build a "left-hander one-two punch" for the 2025 season.
Riley, a native of the U.S., made his professional debut by being drafted by the MLB Chicago Cubs in the 11th round in 2018. He has no major league experience, and during his five seasons in the Minor League, he left 108 games with 19-25 losses and 4.68 ERA. His strength is the fastball of up to 159 kilometers. He can also play various types of pitching including curveball, cut fastball, slider and change-up.
Logan, also from the U.S., started his professional career by receiving an eighth-round pick from the Boston Red Sox in 2015. He recorded five wins and 11 losses and an earned run average of 5.79 in 45 games in the MLB. In the Minor League, he recorded 45 wins and 35 losses and an earned run average of 4.50 in 191 games. He throws fastballs with speeds of mid to late 140 kilometers per hour, as well as breaking balls such as splitter, curveball, sweeper, slider and change-up.
Lim Seon-nam, the NC Dinosaurs' general manager, said Riley is a player with strong desire to win and strike out on the mound, adding that he is a power pitcher who can overwhelm batters with strong fastballs and curves. As for Logan, he called him a smart pitch through high-quality breaking balls.
Previously, NC renewed its contract with Matt Davidson, the home run king of the KBO League, for up to 3.2 million U.S. dollars per year. Will NC`s eye to select foreign players work next year? Attention is focusing on how much strength NC, which ranked ninth (61 wins, 81 losses and two draws) in the league this year, will have in the offseason.