Turning a crisis into an opportunity. This is the story of the Hanwha Eagles, who signed Ricardo Sanchez, 26, as a replacement foreign pitcher.바카라
On 1 April, Hanwha had an emergency. Opening day starter Butch Smith left the mound after just three innings with a sore shoulder. With such a sensitive area, it was difficult to gauge when he would return.
An official from Hanwha’s operations team told us, “We were planning to send a scout to the US unconditionally in the second week of April, regardless of whether Smith was injured or not. We had a case last year (injury replacement), so this year we had a mission to replace a player quickly if he was out for more than a month.” Hanwha lost a lot of time last season waiting for Nick Kingham and Ryan Carpenter to recover from injuries. Based on their experience a year ago, they had a backup plan in place.
The team’s scouts travelled to the United States around the 11th, given the Triple-A schedule that began in early April. “Smith got sick on opening day, so we went to the US as soon as we planned,” said a member of the management team. “Our first goal was to sign a left-handed pitcher without fail. “Our first goal was to get a left-handed pitcher no matter what, but the guy we considered got injured, so (the plan) got derailed. A left-handed pitcher was the No. 1 candidate, a resource that had been sought after last year. We thought he was the type of player who could succeed in the KBO, but the timing wasn’t right. Sanchez was the pitcher that the scout looking for a replacement reported as being similar to the No. 1 candidate.Not without question marks. Sanchez is not a big guy on paper, standing at 1.78 metres tall. Of the 20 foreign pitchers in the KBO as of the start of the 2023 season, only Kirk McCarty (SSG Landers-1m73cm) is under 1m80cm. This compares to Smith, who stands at 1m93cm. A foreign pitcher’s height can give them an advantage in terms of release point and extension (the distance from their footing to their throwing fingertips). This is why teams prefer taller players over shorter ones. Despite Sanchez’s negatives, Hanwha’s video analysis concluded that he “could work in Korea.”
“He mixes a changeup to left-handed batters and a two-seam fastball to right-handed batters. He threw pitches that were a threat to all corners of the strike zone.” “It felt like he was throwing fluttery pitches, but the hitters’ timing was late, which meant that there was a discussion (hidden motion), which made it difficult to time it. It didn’t take long for manager (Son Hyuk) to make a decision after watching the video.”
After the scout left the country on the 11th, Hanwha decided to sign Sanchez on the 15th. The final step was to negotiate with Sanchez’s original team, the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox are one of the more difficult big league clubs to negotiate with. Hanwha actively courted the player and got him to sign. “President (Park Chan-hyuk) and the general manager did a good job,” said a member of the management team. They prepared everything in advance because it could take a long time if there was a weekend. We even had a scout go to Atlanta to get a visa. We saved a lot of time on administrative procedures.” Hanwha signed Sanchez on the morning of the 20th. It took less than 10 days after the scouting trip to finalise the deal and put on the Eagles’ uniform.
Sanchez has had a slow start in the KBO. In his first nine starts, he went 5-0 with a 1.48 ERA. Hanwha boasts a 100 per cent winning percentage with eight wins and one tie in Sanchez’s starts.
Hanwha’s 2023 season is split between before and after Sanchez’s arrival. Before Sanchez made his debut, Hanwha’s winning percentage was just 0.345 (10 wins, 1 draw, and 19 losses), but after he entered the rotation, it was 0.525 (21 wins, 3 draws, and 19 losses). It’s safe to say that Sanchez is a “pot belly” because he brings the team a win every time he appears. His bold and fast moves have turned the team’s fortunes around.