The Hanwha Eagles will likely be in happy trouble soon. It is because Ryan Weiss (28), a foreign player, is showing an unusual performance.퀸알바
Weiss started the game against the Gocheok Kiwoom Heroes on the 9th and retired without a win or loss after recording 97 pitches, five hits, three strikeouts, six strikeouts, and two runs (one earned run) in seven innings. With a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning, he turned the ball over to the bullpen, but Weiss’s two wins of the season were blown away because the bullpen failed to keep two innings and overstretched walks. Hanwha suffered an unpleasant loss from the first game of the second half as it lost 3-5.
Despite Hanwha’s disappointing results, Weiss stood out the most among the players. Weiss posted a maximum speed of 153 kilometers per hour and an average speed of 150 kilometers per hour on the day. Despite his first seven innings of pitching since his debut in the KBO League, he pitched more than 150 kilometers per hour until the end. In the second half of the game, he proactively mixed breaking balls such as sweeper and curveball to endure. He continued his aggressive pitching by mixing fastballs (33), curves (28), sweeper (23), and changeup (13). He only pitched 50 pitches until the fifth inning.
Weiss joined the Hanwha Eagles as a substitute for Ricardo Sanchez on April 17. Sanchez will be away for the second time this season due to elbow pain, and he will have to leave for more than six weeks, which is why he decided to recruit Weiss. Weiss had no major league experience in the U.S. and played for five seasons in the Minor League alone. He experienced Asian baseball in the Taiwan Baseball Organization (CPBL) last year, and was continuing his career in the U.S. independent league this year. Hanwha decided to give Weiss a total of 100,000 U.S. dollars for six weeks and see if he throws a ball that works in Korea.
When I opened the lid, Weiss exceeded expectations. He first started the game against the Doosan Bears in Daejeon on April 25, and pitched six scoreless innings to win his debut game, and continued to display his performance as an innings pitcher. Weiss had quality starts in all three games he played in Korea, recording one win, 19 innings and 1.89 ERA.
The special reason why Weiss made quality starts in all games is that the rest of Hanwha’s foreign pitchers couldn’t. Weiss is currently the second highest quality pitcher after Ryu Hyun-jin (10 in 16 games) in Hanwha. Moon Dong-joo and Weiss each recorded three. Weiss already surpassed them even though the number of games was much smaller than Felix Peña (2 in 9 games), Sanchez (2 in 11 games), and Jaime Barria (2 in 6 games), who joined Hanwha instead of Peña, which was released in May.
If Weiss continues to pitch as he is now, Hanwha has no choice but to continue to think about whether to replace Sanchez. Although it is difficult to find a left-hander who throws a fastball more than 150 kilometers per hour like Sanchez due to the increasingly bad foreign pitcher market, Sanchez’s elbow this year is a time bomb that doesn’t know when it will explode and his innings are very poor. Considering the two factors of innings and health, which are the virtues of starting pitchers, Weiss has the upper hand for now.
SSG Landers, which previously used an alternative foreign player system, chose to stay in the right place. They agonized over who to accompany Roenis Elias, who had been sidelined due to an injury from his abdominant muscle, and Keisho Shirakawa, a substitute foreign player from the Japanese independent league. After much consideration, SSG announced waivers for Sirakawa while dragging Elias according to the standard. It is known that a consensus was reached that Elias is superior given his basic skills.
Weiss is using his 193 centimeter-tall stature to make opposing batters difficult. His fighting spirit on the mound is also tremendous. He seems to be determined to return to the U.S. based on his success in Korea. It is no exaggeration to say that he is an ace in the mound.
Will Hanwha be able to break up with Weiss after signing a six-week contract? Had it been like that originally planned, things would have been completely different now. It is uncertain whether Weiss will continue to produce the same results when he meets the same team more than twice and the opposing team is completely prepared. Still, Weiss is the only starting pitcher in the Hanwha Eagles who throws more than Ryu. Will Weiss be able to use the legend of a foreigner who can finish the entire season wearing the Hanwha uniform.