Jeong-hoo Lee’s (26) team, the Major League Baseball (MLB) San Francisco Giants, succeeded in recruiting a free agent (FA) pitcher for the first time in this year’s Stove League.

Jordan Hicks (28), who worked together with Ryu Hyun-jin (37) at the Toronto Blue Jays in the second half of last year, will wear a San Francisco uniform.

Local media such as ESPN and MLB.com reported on the 13th (Korean time), citing sources, that San Francisco had agreed to a contract with Hicks for a four-year contract period and a total of $44 million (about 57.9 billion won). 카지노사이트랭크

With this, San Francisco reinforced its second pitcher.

Previously, San Francisco entered into a trade with the Seattle Mariners, giving up outfielder Mitch Haniger and pitcher Anthony Desclifani and bringing in Robbie Ray, the 2021 American League Cy Young Award winner. However, Ray underwent elbow surgery in May of last year, making it difficult for him to pitch in the first half of the year.

San Francisco sought to recruit major stars and pitchers in the free agent market, but all suffered bitter losses in the battle for Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto (LA Dodgers), and Shota Imanaga (Chicago Cubs). Then, this time, they succeeded in strengthening the mound by recruiting Hicks.

Hicks debuted in the major leagues in 2018 and pitched in 212 games overall, recording 11 wins, 21 losses, 32 saves, 51 holds, 255 strikeouts, and an ERA of 3.85. Last year, he played for the St. Louis Cardinals and Toronto, where he had 3 wins, 9 losses, 12 saves, and 13 holds in 65 games, with an ERA of 3.29.

In particular, Hicks is considered a pitcher who throws a strong ball in the major league. According to Statcast, Hicks’ average velocity for his fastball and sinker was 100.3 mph (about 161.4 km) and 101.1 mph (about 162.7 km), respectively. He also threw a fastball 105 mph twice.

Hicks is a specialist bullpen pitcher with only 8 games of starting experience, but he plans to change his position to starting pitcher in San Francisco.

San Francisco included in Hicks’ contract an option to pay a bonus of $2 million (approximately 2.6 billion won) annually depending on the number of innings pitched.

ESPN reported, “Even if Hicks is pushed out of the competition for the starting rotation, he will build a strong bullpen with Camilo Dorval.” 섯다