William Cuevas (33), who led KT Wiz’s first win, returns.
On the 9th, KT announced that it had recruited William Cuevas for a total of $450,000 (approximately 500 million won) as a replacement for foreign pitcher Bo Schulser.
Cuevas is a name familiar to KBO league fans. From 2019 to last year, he played in 82 career games (486⅓ innings) with an average ERA of 3.89 with 33 wins and 23 losses. In 2021, he played a big role in the first place match and the postseason, leading KT to its first integrated championship. However, he suffered an injury during last season and was released after playing only two games.
Unfortunately, Cuevas, who left KT, returned to KT after a year. As KT foreign pitcher Bo Schulser was released after 9 games (49⅔ innings) with 1 win, 7 losses and an average ERA of 5.62, Cuevas had an opportunity.
In an interview on the 9th, manager Lee Kang-cheol said, “I wanted to bring in a stable and good pitcher. However, looking at other teams, it seems that the pool of foreign pitchers is not good. As for Cuevas, we know the pitch and there are no adaptation problems. The important thing is the injury, but he passed the medical test, so there was no reason not to use it,” he explained the reason for bringing Cuevas back.
Cuevas is scheduled to enter the country on the 12th and join the squad. Director Lee Kang-cheol said, “I know that you will enter the country early in the morning on Monday. I try to stay still. Then, he will come saying ‘I’m okay, I’m okay’ and throw it.” “Before I came to Korea, I pitched 75 pitches. Your body will be fine,” he added.
In a situation where it is difficult to find good foreign pitchers, Cuevas is an attractive resource. It is known that Cuevas received offers from other teams before deciding to go to KT. Director Lee Kang-cheol, who said, “From what I hear, there were contacts with other teams,” he said, “But he said he wanted to go to KT. Coming to our team would have been nice to adapt.”
“If I were like that, I would go to Lotte or LG. Director Lee Kang-cheol, who joked, “I think this is Jung. Since the championship was won by our team, there must have been a lot of good feelings left. And when we left at the end, we were very welcoming. I went up to the podium in front of the fans to say hello, but in fact, no foreign players leave like that. I think I was moved by that,” he said, recalling good memories with Cuevas. 스포츠토토
Coach Lee Kang-cheol, who completed the final puzzle with the joining of Cuevas, said, “You shouldn’t go too far ahead. He said, “I can’t be excited,” but expected the starting pitchers to play an active role, saying, “Since Cuevas and Benjamin have settled down, Koh Young-pyo, Eom Sang-baek, and exclusion are improving a lot, we will be able to play a more interesting game.”