“The biggest reason I wanted to come to Korea was because of my teammates. They treated each other like family.”안전놀이터
The biggest reason William Cuevas returned to Korea was because of his KT Wiz colleagues.
Since 2016, Cuevas, from Venezuela, has had a brief MLB experience with the Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, and Boston. His career big league record was 3 losses and 1 hold with an ERA of 8.06 in 13 appearances (22.1 innings).
Afterwards, Cuevas, who first joined hands with KT in the 2019 season, conquered the KBO League. Until the middle of the 2022 season, he played an active role as KT’s ace, posting an average ERA of 3.89 with 33 wins and 23 losses in 82 career games (486.1 innings).
Cuevas, who left KT due to an elbow injury during the 2022 season, worked in the Mexican League and the Triple A team under the Los Angeles Dodgers, and recently returned to KT. KT released Bossulser, who was in slump, and sent him a love call again as a substitute player.
Kuevas, who was courted by KT, is said to have made his decision to come to KT because of his past teammates.
Cuevas, who met with reporters ahead of the Incheon SSG Landers game on the 14th (14-4 KT win), said, “I met my teammates again after a year, but I don’t think I ever left. Thanks to that, he was able to adapt quickly. He’s ready to play. “The biggest reason I wanted to come to Korea is because of my teammates. Teammates treated each other like family. “I always wanted to come to Korea,” he explained why he chose to go to Korea.
He continued, “After leaving the team last year, I went to the Mexican league, and this season I also went to the World Baseball Classic (WBC). After that, he went to the Mexican league again and signed a contract with the Dodgers (Triple A) team. I can’t believe I’m back in Korea,” he said. Now there is a lot of adrenaline coming out. I feel good,” he said of his feelings after returning to Korea.
Cuevas was KT’s hero in the 2021 season. In the regular league that year, he played 23 games (133.1 innings) and did not receive support for scoring, so he went 9-5 with an average ERA of 4.12. He recorded 8K scoreless runs in 7 innings, taking the lead in KT’s first regular league championship.
His performance continued in the Korean Series against the Doosan Bears. He climbed the mound as a starting pitcher in the most important game, leading KT to a 4-2 victory with 8K and 1 run in 7.2 innings. Thanks to Cuevas’ performance, KT eventually achieved the feat of winning the first integrated championship.
Still, Cuevas was humble. He said, “Rather than I was the ace, I won the championship at the time with all my teammates acting as aces. I’m not a good player without a team. All of our players played the role of an ace, so we were able to achieve good results at that time,” he said, giving credit to his colleagues for good results in the past.
However, despite this glory, KT is currently in the lower ranks this season. The specific record is 9th with 23 wins, 2 draws and 33 losses (based on the pre-game on the 16th).
Cuevas said, “I couldn’t watch the whole game (of KT) because of the time difference (when I was in other countries), but I watched the main game scenes through SNS and video channels.” “I want to change the atmosphere of the clubhouse and dugout. I will cheer you on a lot. Since it is still June, there are still many games left. There is a possibility that (ranking) will rise enough. My role is to pitch to the best of my ability with that.”
Finally, Cuevas said about his goals this season, “I want to talk about two things. Going out to the Korean Series and winning and finishing the season healthy,” he said confidently.
On the other hand, on this day, Cuevas spurred preparations for the actual game by pitching in the bullpen. He threw a total of 32 pitches and checked 5 types of pitches: four-seam fastball, two-seam fastball, cutter, curve, and changeup.