Kiwoom’s new foreign pitcher Ian McKinney (29) is taking steps to play in the KBO League. He goes to Japan for a while, and from the 23rd he accompanies the team.메이저놀이터
Coach Hong Won-ki said, “McKinney warmed up and trained in the 2nd group today before the first game of the weekday series with Samsung in the 2023 KBO League regular season held at Daegu Samsung Lions Park on the 20th. He goes to Japan tomorrow for a visa,” he said.
“After coming back, I will accompany the team from Friday (23rd). It is important that it dissolves quickly. I plan to work with the team so that I can adapt. The start date needs to be coordinated. I think I have to see him throw 1 or 2 times to make the calculation.”
Substitute for Eric Jokish. Although Yokishi has been active for five years since 2019, this season was not very good with 65.2 innings in 12 games, 5 wins and 3 losses, and an average ERA of 4.39.
In response, Kiwoom boldly released Yokishi and immediately brought McKinney. McKinney, who has a height of 181 cm and a weight of 80 kg, has a fast ball with a maximum speed of 147 km per hour and various pitches such as cutter, changeup and curve. He gave me a contract totaling $185,000.
He’s not a player with a big league career. He was selected by St. Louis in the 5th round of the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft. After that, he only played in the minors. He went 49-31 with a 3.59 earned run average in 176 games (103 starts) in 667.2 innings.
This season, he played for Gastonia Honeyhunters in the Atlantic League of the American Independent League. He went 4-1 with a 4.24 earned run average in 8 games and 46.2 innings. He also served as pitching coach for his team. He is also a player who has the advantage of being able to widely understand and utilize analysis data.
After his signing, McKinney said, “It is an honor to join the team that finished runner-up last year. I look forward to meeting new team members and fans. I will try to contribute to the victory of the team and the Korean Series by focusing on condition management and analysis.”
Kiwoom’s winning number. However, his career has not been very successful. He made it all the way to Triple-A, but the major leagues weren’t easy. Instead, Kiwoom saw potential in the KBO League. He doesn’t even have a lot of money.
Director Hong Won-ki said, “There wasn’t a lot of data. He’s not a player with a good career. He has to watch the throw. In a way, Yokishi also had huge expectations when he first came. He laughed, saying, “It would be great if he could do it like Yokishi.”
He continued, “I am looking forward to it, but it is still too early for everything. It is important to adapt well and integrate quickly. He said he was friendly. I don’t think there will be any big problems if we do a good analysis with catcher Lee Ji-young.”
In addition, coach Hong Won-ki explained, “I plan to start Jae-young Jang and prepare other resources until McKinney arrives.”