Brandon Waddell (29, registered name Brandon, Rakuten Monkeys), a foreign pitcher who played for the Doosan Bears last year, will try again in the KBO League in less than a year. However, it is said that it looks different from before. Doosan coach Lee Seung-yeop (47), who met Brandon as a commentator, also expressed his excitement.
Coach Lee Seung-yeop said,메이저놀이터 ahead of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League regular season home game against the KIA Tigers to be held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 9th, “I heard that an agreement has been reached to some extent with (Brandon). I think the game will be possible by the end of this month at the latest.” Brandon experienced the KBO League last year and pitched well, so I think he would be the best choice among foreign substitutes we can choose now.”
On the 8th, Doosan announced a waiver of Dylan’s file, which injured his elbow. On the morning of this day, a day after that, news came that Doosan was about to re-sign Brandon, who was active last year.
Brandon called up to the big leagues in 2020 and played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles, and St. Louis Cardinals in the major leagues until 2021. He entered the KBO League last year as a substitute for Ariel Miranda. He appeared in 11 games and went 5-3 with a 3.60 earned run average and struck out 40 in 65 innings, but he failed to renew his contract.
At the time, director Lee also did not have a special impression. He said, “I saw the video and I wasn’t that impressed when I threw last year,” but “(again) Bonnie’s speed comes up to 150 km per hour and she freely uses breaking balls. Given the experience, I don’t think it will take a long time to adapt.”
The lack of selection experience was cited as the reason for the disappointing performance last year. However, this year, it is evaluated that he has accumulated experience by consistently playing in the starting rotation for Taiwan’s Rakuten Monkeys. Coach Lee said, “Last year, I didn’t have much experience as a starting pitcher, but this year, I threw about 10 games well in Taiwan. So, if we judge that there is no problem at all and throw like we showed in last year’s KBO League, I think it will be a great help to us.” “he said forcefully.
At the same time, he expressed his gratitude to the club, saying, “It seems that the progress has been accelerated because the club moved quickly.”