All four home runs and 600 million hitters have left Korea. Will the third foreign hitter chosen by the Samsung Lions in 2024 be a source of strength for the team.
The Samsung Lions, led by head coach Park Jin-man, said on the 14th, “I signed with foreign batter Lewin Diaz. Diaz signed a total of 170,000 dollars, including an annual salary of 50,000, an option of 20,000, and a transfer fee of 100,000.”
Born in 1996, Diaz is a 28-year-old Dominican who is 188 centimeters tall and weighs 105 kilograms. He started his professional career by signing a contract with the Minnesota Twins in 2013. He had a batting average of 0.1858, 13 homers, 27 RBIs and 30 runs in 112 games during the three seasons since his Major League debut with the Miami Marlins in 2020.
This season, he played for Campeche and Mexico City teams in the Mexican professional baseball league, and led his team to the postseason with a batting index of 0.376 101 hits, 19 home runs, 77 RBIs, 52 runs and OPS (long hit + on base) of 1.099.
Diaz is Samsung’s third foreign hitter this season. He gave up his contract with Jose Pirella, who he had worked with from 2021 to 2023, and signed David McKinnon, who hit 15 home runs in the Japanese pro baseball in the 2023 season, for a total of 1 million dollars.
McKinnon displayed stellar performance in the early days of the season with a batting average of nearly 40%, but his batting pace began to decline as time passed by. He only had a batting average of 0.209 in June. Most of all, he did not hit the ball that he expected. He had four home runs in the first half of the season. He was released by Samsung, leaving a rather ordinary record of 0.294 with four home runs, 36 RBIs and 28 runs scored in 72 games.
And the player Samsung brought in was Ruben Cardenas. He signed with Samsung for a total of 477,000 dollars including an annual salary of 327,000, an option of 100,000, and a transfer fee of 50,000. Before joining Samsung, he was ranked at the top of the batting category in the Triple-A International League, ranking second in homers and sixth in RBIs. He played in 75 games this year, recording 80 hits in 289 at-bats for 56 RBIs and 20 homers with an OPS of 0.895.
As expected, Cardenas made a strong impression by hitting a double from his debut game. Then, he performed a cool home run show at the match against the Lotte Giants in Daegu on July 20 and July 21. He met Samsung fans’ expectations by hitting a 140-meter-long home run on July 20 and a two-run homer against Lotte closer Kim Won-joong on July 21.
However, after complaining of back pain in the match against the KT Wiz in Daegu on July 26, Kadenas began to become a muktu player rather than a lucky charm in the memory of Samsung fans. He said he felt pain even though the results of the examination did not show anything wrong, and he could not play. It was frustrating for Samsung, which had been excluded from the first-team list while waiting for him to improve. 안전놀이터
Then, on Aug. 6, he not only struck out as a pinch hitter against the Hanwha Eagles in Daegu, but also allowed a double long hit through a comfortable walk defense in the top of the ninth inning, disappointing fans as well as the Samsung bench. He was replaced immediately, and went down to the second division the next day, on Aug. 7.
Samsung quickly switched to non-subsidiary radar. Samsung, which is keen on more than fall baseball, had to complete all work visas by August 15. Even if Samsung recruits players after 15 days, it cannot utilize them in the most important postseason.
Samsung, however, managed to expedite the process and recruited Diaz. After completing visa issuance at the Mexican consulate, he boarded a flight to Korea on Saturday and completed medical examination in Daegu early morning on Sunday. He successfully released his official document one day before the registration deadline.
Samsung invested more than $1.47 million in the previous two foreign hitters. In the end, it was a failed investment because no one was able to stay with them at the end of the season.
Samsung continued to fight for the ranking without being shaken even after Cardenas was out. It was 7-3 in the last 10 games before Diaz’s official release.
Above all, he is the No. 1 home run team. Before the game on Friday, he had 134 home runs. Kim Young-woong has 24 home runs, Koo Ja-wook and Lee Sung-kyu have 20 home runs, Kang Min-ho has 16 home runs, and Park Byung-ho and Lee Jae-hyun have 12 home runs, with as many as six hitting double-digit home runs.
Could Diaz be Samsung’s last puzzle.
Samsung said, “Diaz is expected to quickly adapt to the KBO league as a player with a dedicated attitude and passion to the team, as well as the long-shot power needed at Lions Park.”