“I came to Korea to go beyond the Korean Series”
Doosan Bears officially announced on the 23rd, “We signed a total of $300,000 (about 400 million won) with foreign batter Jarrod Young,” adding, “We also requested the Korea Committee to disclose waivers for outfielder Henry Ramos.”
After the end of the last season, Doosan replaced Jose Rojas with Henry Ramos as its foreign hitter. Rojas played in 122 games during his time with Doosan, and recorded 102 hits, 19 homers, 65 RBIs, 52 runs batted in, 0.253 OPS, or 0.819. Notably, he hit 19 home runs while using Jamsil Stadium, the widest area in the KBO League, as his home ground, which was encouraging. However, he failed to meet Doosan’s expectations, as he lacked productivity.
In response, Doosan wore a KT Wiz uniform despite the short 2022 season, and decided to recruit Henry Ramos, who played in 77 games last year in Triple-A, a minor league under the Cincinnati Reds, with 89 hits, 13 home runs, 55 RBIs, 75 runs and a batting average of 0.318 OPS of 0.954. In terms of power, Rojas may be better, but Ramos is better in terms of sophistication and speed. Ramos suffered a severe slump in the early part of the season, but returned to the first division stage in late April and looked completely different.
Ramos’ batting average for the season was only 0.178 before he was eliminated from the first team once. However, after returning from the game against the Kiwoom Heroes on April 19, he began to increase his batting sense little by little, and before being released by Doosan, he played in 80 games, posting 95 hits, 10 homers, 48 RBIs, 43 runs batted in, and a 0.305 OPS batting average. However, Ramos is on the verge of leaving the KBO League without completing his entire season schedule again this time. If no team wants to recruit Ramos during the waivers, it is unlikely that Ramos will touch a Korean team anymore.
Despite having a batting average of more than 300, there are many reasons why Ramos left the team, but the biggest background is the “work-esque” issue. He often showed regretful play, such as not being able to concentrate in the game, as well as not doing his best on the base. In addition, it was more than once that he was not suitable for the team and went around. Therefore, Yang Seok-hwan and Yang Eui-ji, the “captain,” did not mention the “subject,” but unusually pointed out the foreign player’s work-esque problem in interviews with the media. 토토사이트
Jarrod Young, who broke up with Ramos, was newly recruited by Doosan. Young was nominated by the Chicago Cubs in the 465th overall ranking in the 15th round of the major league rookie draft in 2017, and made his first big league appearance in 2022. Although he does not have much experience in the big leagues, he has played in 22 games over the past two years, with 13 hits, two homers, eight RBIs, and a batting average of 0.210 OPS of 0.725. And in the minor leagues, he recorded 606 hits, 80 homers, and a batting average of 0.270 OPS of 0.794, in a total of 627 games, including 67 hits, 11 homers, and a 0.285 OPS of 0.917 in 74 games this year.
He is not a strong player, but a mid- to long-range hitter. Moreover, he has a good batting eye. “Jared Young is an OPS hitter with good batting ability and good batting ability to record an on-base percentage of 0.411 in Triple-A this season,” a Doosan official said while announcing the recruitment of Young. “We judged that he is capable of hitting 32 home runs in his heyday as a Triple-A batter over the past two years.” Young, who will be wearing Doosan’s uniform, stepped on the ground of Korea through Incheon International Airport on Wednesday. Young will join the team when administrative procedures such as visa issuance are completed.
According to the Doosan Bears, Young said, “I’m very happy to join Doosan Bears. I can feel it now that I’m wearing the uniform,” adding, “Swinging and fast feet that can hit the ball strongly are my strengths. When it comes to defense, I can play various positions such as corner infield and corner outfield.” Young then said, “I came to Korea to go beyond advancing to the Korean Series. My physical condition is very good because I continued to play in the U.S. I want to join the team as soon as possible and contribute to my victory.”
Indeed, Ramos’ performance was not bad in terms of “ability.” Therefore, Doosan, which has more goals than qualifying for the postseason, must surely make it through. Will Lee Young be able to fill Ramos’ void and contribute to Doosan’s achievement of goals.