The inauguration gift received by Doosan Bears coach Lee Seung-yeop, who is about to debut as the only rookie coach in the 2023 KBO league, is the best battery. In other words, Yang Eui-ji, the best catcher in Korea, and Raul Alcantara, a pitcher with 20 wins, were released as free agents from the NC Dinos.
Yang Eui-ji took charge of the ‘Doosan Dynasty’ by advancing Doosan to the Korean Series for 4 consecutive years, including two consecutive wins in the Korean Series in 2015 and 2016, and then changed his position to NC in 2019. After 4 years, he could not forget his parents and returned. . He is the best catcher in the self-certified KBO league, having signed a contract for a total of 27.7 billion won (12.5 billion won in 2019, 15.2 billion won in 2023) as a free agent twice.
For Alcantara, Daniel Rios (Doosan, 22 wins) in 2007, Andy Van Hecken (Nexen, 20 wins) in 2014, Dustin Nippert (Doosan, 22 wins) in 2016, Hector Noesi (KIA, 20 wins) in 2017, Following Josh Lindblom (Doosan, 20 wins) in 2019, he is the sixth foreign pitcher to succeed the 20-win pitcher in 2020.
In fact, the KBO league is the stage of luck for Alcantara. Alcantara, who signed a contract with kt Wiz for a total of $650,000 in 2019 and entered the KBO league, had enough ‘money value’ with 11 wins and 11 losses and an average ERA of 4.01 in the first year, but failed to renew the contract due to William Cuevas, who won 13 wins.
He was about to leave the domestic stage, but was called by coach Taehyung Kim and wore a Doosan uniform in 2020 for $700,000. Doosan’s outfield skills with the highest level of defense in the spacious Jamsil Stadium, and supplementing the weakness of the breaking ball, quickly became a pitcher with 20 wins and ranked first in most wins.메이저놀이터
Using his 20 wins in the KBO league as a weapon (?), he transferred with great pride to the Hanshin Tigers of the Japanese professional baseball in the 2021 season for a total of $4 million over two years, but the Japanese stage was different from the KBO. Over the course of two seasons, he went 4-6 with 1 save and 25 holds with a 3.96 ERA. And again, he was called by Doosan. He returned after three years with a total of $900,000 ($800,000 in annual salary and $100,000 in options).
The 2023 season is the first time Alcantara forms a battery with Yang Eui-ji. When Alcantara won 20 wins, the main catcher was Park Se-hyeok, who changed his position to NC after Eui-ji Yang moved to Doosan. It is said that Park Se-hyeok’s advice was a big help in Alcantara’s 20 wins at Doosan. 메이저놀이터
When Doosan signed a return contract with Alcantara, he said, “As a result of looking at pitching and detailed data, we confirmed that we are maintaining the highest level of pitch and command in the KBO League.” It means that although he did not perform well on the Japanese stage, he judged that he could still work well on the KBO stage.
It is interpreted that Doosan, which set an unprecedented KBO league record of entering the Korean Series for 7 consecutive years and plummeted to 9th place in the 2022 season, recruited new coach Lee Seung-yeop, the “national hitter”, Alcantara, a 20-win pitcher, and Yang Eui-ji, the best catcher, to rebuild the dynasty. This is a possible point. It means that expectations are high for Alcantara.