Former colleague Ryu Hyun-jin, who was also surprised by Japan's failure to go to Korea..."NPB ERA 7-point pitcher terminates contract with Doosan"
Former colleague Ryu Hyun-jin, who was also surprised by Japan's failure to go to Korea..."NPB ERA 7-point pitcher terminates contract with Doosan"
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Japanese media expressed deep interest in the news of right-hander Thomas Hatch, whose final contract with the Doosan Bears in the KBO League failed.스포츠토토
Japanese sports media "Sponichi Annex" reported on the 20th that Thomas Hatch, an American pitcher who played for the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Hiroshima Toyokaf in the 2024 season, failed to reach a contract with Doosan in the KBO League.
Doosan reported on Wednesday that it signed a contract with Thomas Hatch for a total of 1 million U.S. dollars, including a down payment of 200,000 dollars and an annual salary of 800,000 dollars. It has completed the formation of a foreign pitcher to prepare for the 2025 season by captivating Hatch under the condition of guaranteeing 1 million dollars in full.
Hatch, born in 1994, is a right-handed orthodox pitcher with physique conditions of 185 centimeters in height and 88 kilograms in weight. He started his professional career in the 2016 MLB Draft by joining the Chicago Cubs in the third round and 104th overall.
He made his dream big league debut with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2020, and showed outstanding performance with 3 wins, 1 loss and a 2.73 ERA in 26 ⅓ innings in 17 games. "Korean Monster" Ryu Hyun-jin hit a four-year FA jackpot worth $80 million (about 116 billion won) ahead of the 2020 season and played together while wearing a Toronto uniform.
However, Hatch was sluggish with one loss in nine ⅓ innings and one loss and 19.29 in four ⅔ innings in three games in 2021, and one loss in one game in 2022. Playing for Toronto and the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2023 season, he did not have a bad performance with a 4.08 ERA in 28 ⅔ innings in 19 games, but was released after the end of the season and challenged the Asian stage by signing with NPB Hiroshima.
Hatch failed to perform his part in Hiroshima. He received a devastating report card with three losses and 7.36 ERA in five games and 22 innings. While naturally failing to renew contract, Doosan sent a love call, which likely enabled him to continue his career in Korea in the 2025 season.
However, Hatch failed to meet Doosan's criteria in a recent medical test conducted in the U.S. After hard work, Doosan mutually agreed to scrap the contract with Hatch and hired Jack Rogue, who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers this year, for a total of 800,000 dollars.
Doosan had difficulty operating the starting rotation as Raul Alcantara and Brandon Waddell, who expected to play a one-two punch role in the 2024 season, groaned side by side due to injuries. He succeeded in advancing to the postseason as the final fourth place, but suffered the pain of ending the fall baseball with just two games, catching up with fifth-ranked KT Wiz in the wild card series.
Doosan couldn't push ahead with the contract without being sure about Hatch's health. After moving quickly, they decided to recruit another foreign pitcher.
"According to Korean media reports, it is unusual to terminate the contract during the medical test," Sponichi Annex said. "It is known that Doosan has strengthened the medical check process this year due to a series of injuries to foreign pitchers."
Another media outlet, Full Count, also said, "Hatch, who left Hiroshima after recording a 7-point ERA in NPB, broke up with Doosan in a month," adding, "We are interested in Hatch's future moves."