William Cuevas (31), a foreign pitcher who played a key role in the KT Wiz’s first overall victory, will take on a re-challenge in the Major League (MLB).
Mexican journalist Irving Furlong said on his SNS on the 4th (Korean time) that Cuevas has signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Cuevas’ current team, Diablos Rojos del Mexico of the Mexican League, also announced the news of the contract and said, “We are extremely happy. Congratulations.”
Cuevas started his Korean league career in 2019 wearing a KT uniform. He went 33-23 with an ERA of 3.89 in 82 games over four seasons. Cuevas, who recorded 13 wins in his first season, won 10 the following year in 158 innings despite a hip injury.
In the 2021 season, Cuevas suffered from a father injury in August following a slump in the beginning, and only had an average ERA of 4.12 with 9 wins and 5 losses in 133⅓ innings. However, he pitched well with an ERA of 2.16 in 5 games in October, and in the tiebreaker (1st place match) against the Samsung Lions, he took only two days off to mound and led the team to the regular season championship with 7 scoreless innings. Following this, in the Korean Series, he won the first game with 1 run in 7⅔ innings and became the main player in the team’s combined victory.
Later, in the 2022 season, Cuevas signed a new contract with KT. However, as the elbow pain lasted longer, he was eventually replaced with lefty Wes Benjamin (30) in mid-May and left the Korean stage. It was a ‘beautiful farewell’ to the extent that director Lee Kang-cheol said,메이저사이트 “I hope we can meet again,” and Cuevas also left a parting message saying, “Everyone is like family.”
After being released, Cuevas, who joined the Mexican League team in July of that year, started pitching again while recovering his physical condition. He was also selected to represent Colombia in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) held this year, and has been on the mound against England.
If Cuevas succeeds in entering the big leagues, it will be his first comeback in five years. Debuting in the major leagues in Boston in 2016, he went through Detroit, etc., and recorded an average ERA of 8.06 with 0 wins, 3 losses and 1 hold in 22⅓ innings in 13 games over 3 seasons.