
This is the second season for SSG Landers’ Roenis Elias. He entered the KBO last year as a replacement for Eni Romero and was re-signed.
However, his second season didn’t go as planned. The first half of the season was marred by injuries, both major and minor, and Elias’s absence led SSG to become the first team in the league to sign a short-term injury replacement. That player was Keisho Shirakawa.
Shirakawa quickly integrated into the team and performed so well that there was a fierce debate within the club about Elias’ return and signing Shirakawa to a full-time contract. In the end, Elias was the final choice, but even he felt uneasy.
He returned, but to be honest, his performances since returning from injury have been less than impressive. Unlike Drew Anderson, who has established himself as the number one, Elias has struggled to get a quality start. Some speculated that SSG, who still had a replacement on the bench, might make a decision.
The player felt the anxiety as well.
SSG coach Lee Sung-yong said, “I had a meeting with Elias during the recent match against Daegu. When he saw that foreign players who performed similarly to him recently left the team, he felt that he didn’t feel the same way,” Lee said.
The LG Twins released Casey Kelly, a legendary pitcher who had been with the team for five and a half seasons, and the NC Dinos sent Daniel Castano, 파워볼실시간 who had been performing well, in search of a more established ace. As the performance threshold for foreign pitchers was getting higher and higher, Elias felt anxious about leaving the organization.
“He told me that he thought he might leave the team at any moment,” Lee said. I felt that I should take care of him more,” Lee said.
“I chose you because you have the potential, and I believe in you. He believe in you, so why are you thinking about it, you’re going to go all the way, so just think about showing the best of what you can do on the mound.”
Elias was overwhelmed by his coach’s warm words and said he was determined to “give it my best shot.”
Since the meeting, Elias’ pitching has improved. He pitched six innings of one-run ball against Samsung Electronics on the 2nd, followed by seven innings of three-run ball against Kiwoom on the 8th. Both times, he didn’t get the win, but it was largely due to the fact that the opposing pitcher was so strong that he didn’t get any run support. Elias is starting to show the innings he’s come to expect and the ability to pitch down the order.
There’s no denying that foreign players perform better when they’re dealt with on a man-to-man basis rather than as ‘mercenaries’.