William Cuevas (32), a foreign pitcher of professional baseball kt wiz, who stepped on Korean soil again after a year, showed no signs of getting tired of long-distance travel.
Cuevas, who entered the arrivals hall of Incheon International Airport with his family at dawn on the 12th, said, “I am very happy.”
“I’m happy to keep my promise to come back,” Cuevas said. “I want to meet my teammates and fans as soon as possible. Please look forward to it.”
Cuevas, who joined kt in 2019, had an average ERA of 3.89 with 33 wins and 23 losses over four seasons until May of last year when he was released due to an elbow injury.
He has been active as a team ace every year, and in particular, in the 2021 season, he led kt’s first integrated championship.
He was also greatly loved for his extraordinary camaraderie and dedication.
Cuevas threw 108 balls in 7 innings against the NC Dinos on October 28, 2021, striking out 12 and scoring 2 runs. also unfolded.
At that time, Cuevas played a decisive role in kt’s regular season victory by displaying a superhuman ability of throwing 99 balls in 7 innings and performing a scoreless counterattack.
He also became the winning pitcher in the first game of the Korean Series against the Doosan Bears that year.
And that’s not all. After receiving notice of withdrawal last year due to an elbow injury, Cuevas stayed in Korea for about a month and poured out extraordinary affection, helping new foreign pitcher Wes Benjamin adapt.
Cuevas even promised fans before his departure that he would “return (recovered from injury) in a year”.
After returning to the United States, Cuevas underwent elbow surgery and continued his playing career in the Mexican league and the American professional baseball minor leagues.
When kt’s foreign pitcher Bo Schulser was struggling recently, he made an offer to recruit Cuevas, and Cuevas signed the contract at an annual salary of $400,000 without much hesitation.
He said, “I was very happy when kt contacted me,” and “My family especially liked it.”
In fact, it wasn’t just kt that offered to join Cuevas. It is known that five teams in the KBO League, including kt, have proposed.
Cuevas smiled brightly about the reason for choosing kt, saying, “Because this is my hometown.”
He said, “After signing the contract with kt, kt fans sent 200 to 300 congratulatory messages on social media.”
In addition, he said, “I know that kt is in a difficult situation right now,” and promised, “I just need to start over. I want to help the team’s performance a lot.”
On this day, Cuevas entered the country with his wife, son, and youngest daughter, Ella, who was born in October last year.스포츠토토
kt prepared the existing uniform number 32 for Cuevas. Outfielder Kim Gun-hyeong, who used number 32, gave up his number right after the announcement of the contract with Cuevas.
Cuevas is expected to return through a three-game home match against Samsung, which will be held at Suwon KT Wiz Park from the 16th at the earliest after going through the process of adjusting to jet lag.
As for the condition of his elbow, he said, “There’s nothing wrong with it.”