KIA Tigers foreign pitcher Will Crowe made a strong impression in his first appearance in an exhibition game.
The Lee Bum-ho-led Kia Tigers won 3-0 in an exhibition game against the Hanwha Eagles of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at the Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon on Nov. 11. Kia and Hanwha improved to 2-1 (0.667) and 1-2 (0.333), respectively.
The bats were relatively quiet. Choi Won-joon led off the first inning with a solo shot to center field, while Kim Tae-gun and Park Jung-woo had RBI singles. But Hanwha batters generally struggled against Hanwha pitchers, including starter Felix Peña.
It was a pitching relay that led the team to victory. Starting pitcher Crowe shut down the Hanwha bats without allowing a single hit in four innings, striking out four and walking none. Crowe was in excellent form, with his fastball reaching 154 km/h. Yoon Joong-hyun, Kim Dae-yu, Park Jun-pyo, Choi Ji-min, and Jeong Hae-young also contributed to the team's victory with one scoreless inning.
Crowe's performance was the biggest gain of the day. Crowe got off to a strong start with a triple play in the top of the first inning, then continued his scoreless streak in the second and third innings. He was still going strong in the bottom of the fourth inning when Tae-Soon singled. He handed the mound over to Yoon Joong-hyun to close out the fifth inning.
Crowe, who signed with KIA in early January for a total of $1 million ($200,000 signing bonus, $600,000 salary, $200,000 option), was drafted by the Washington Nationals in the second round, 65th overall, in 2017. He has been one of the most highly anticipated pitchers in the game since he entered the professional ranks.
In 2021 and 2022, Crowe played full seasons in the big leagues, going 4-8 with a 5.48 ERA in 26 games (25 starts) and 116⅔ innings, respectively, and 6-10 with a 4.38 ERA in 60 games (one start) and 76 innings, with 16 holds and four saves.
Last year, a shoulder injury kept him out of the big leagues until April 18 against the Colorado Rockies. He ended up on the disabled list (IL) for more than 먹튀검증 two months, and has been pitching in the minors since early July. Crowe's minor league numbers last year were 3-1 with a 3.86 ERA in 17 games and 30 1/3 innings (14 games and 27 1/3 innings in Triple-A) and a 4.33 ERA in 14 games and 27 1/3 innings.
Aware of Crowe's injury history, Kia conducted a thorough medical examination and confirmed that there were no major abnormalities. Kia realized that if Crowe could perform at 100 percent without injury, he would exceed expectations.
Crowe, who received passing grades in bullpen and live pitching during spring training, pitched two innings of three-hit, no-hit ball against the Yakult Swallows of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) on March 27. In an exhibition game against the Lotte Giants on March 3, he pitched three innings of five hits, one walk and one strikeout without allowing a run, and continued the trend against Hanwha on March 11.
After the game, Lee Bum-ho said, "Crowe, who was the starting pitcher, had good command of his pitches. He had a low pitch count, but we plan to gradually increase it, and we expect him to play his role for a season if he maintains his current form." 
"Our batters didn't get many chances because the opposing pitchers were good, but it was good to see how we were able to create runs when we needed them," Lee said. "I think the players are learning how to handle the game when they have the lead," he added. "I'm grateful to the fans who supported us even though it was an away game on a weekday."
Kia will try to win its second straight exhibition game against Hanwha at the same venue on Wednesday. Left-hander Jang Min-ki will start against Ryu Hyun-jin.
온라인카지노사이트