Robert Stark (34), who played in the KBO League for Doosan last year, signs a minor league contract with Milwaukee ahead of this season and tries again in the major leagues. It’s not a guaranteed major league contract, but it’s still an opportunity that includes an invitation to spring training.
After signing with Milwaukee, Stark proudly pledged to re-enter the big leagues on his social network service (SNS), saying, “When I played in Korea, I hated the modifier ‘former major leaguer’. It’s time to correct this.” He is determined to correct the unfavorable condition of a minor league contract with his skills. Many fans also applauded Stark’s determination.
Stark has a major league background. He made his major league debut in San Diego in 2018, at the slightly late age of 29. He showed promise with a 2.50 earned run average in 32 games in 2018. After that, he went through San Diego and Boston, Chicago Cubs and New York Mets, playing a total of 55 games and living abroad by signing a contract with Doosan in 2022. He was a player the major leagues weren’t that far off.
However, it remains to be seen whether this goal can be achieved. The Milwaukee starting lineup isn’t bad. Leading by Corbin Burns, one of the best pitchers in the league, Brandon Woodruff, Freddy Peralta, Eric Lauer, and Adrian Houser are competing. Players like Aaron Ashby and Wade Miley are also dark horses.
Local media evaluate that Stark himself has more to prove in order to occupy even one spot in the bullpen. To sum up, it’s a question of discipline.
‘CBS Sports’ mentioned Stock’s performance in the KBO League last year and said, ‘Command problems plagued him throughout his career in the major leagues, and those problems do not seem to have been completely resolved.’ He may have proven he can handle (meaning his innings), but the 33-year-old is probably a bullpen depth player in Milwaukee,’ he expressed skepticism. 바카라
Stark has walked 5 walks per 9 innings in the major leagues. This is a crucial reason Stark has not been able to find a place in the big leagues, despite his decent strikeout rate. He also made a name for himself as one of the league’s best fastball pitchers in the KBO League, but his walks per nine innings was still a failure at 4.53.
This led to the ups and downs of inning digestion in each game, and eventually Doosan gave up renewing the contract with Stock, which won 9 wins by throwing 165 innings. It was different from the general expectation that the number of walks would decrease because the KBO league, which has a relatively lower hitter level than the major leagues, can throw more aggressively. It is noteworthy whether he has realized anything by throwing the most innings in a season in his life.