According to reports, the Cardinals are close to signing Korean relief pitcher Oh Seung-Hwan to a contract.
Oh is a 33 year-old righthander who was the closer for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan the past two seasons, posting a 2.25 ERA and 80 saves. The deal has been estimated at 2 years / 11M.
His pitch arsenal is described:
The righthander has a fastball that works from 93 mph to 95 mph, and a hard slider that compares to a cut fastball. He also has a slower breaking ball.
Highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3YGCCuh_vQ
He’s averaged about 1K/9 innings in Japan the past two seasons and has been used a reliever’s role for some time, mitigating the amount of pitches he’s thrown in his career.
An introduction to the repertoire of Seung-Hwan Oh https://t.co/NuyP0pmogZ pic.twitter.com/iRqCsJ7jrt
— viva el birdos (@vivaelbirdos) January 11, 2016
It’s expected Oh will be a late inning guy working the 6th/7th/8th in some combination with Maness, Broxton, Siegrist and Walden.
The best though?
His nicknames.
He has two – ‘Stone Buddha’ or the more well known ‘Final Boss’. Either will work just fine if he starts to gain some traction as a fan favorite.
An interesting side note – Oh was facing a hefty suspension from the Korean Baseball Organization. He would have been forced to miss 1/2 of the season (72 games), if he had decided to play in his home country.
Why?
Gambling.
South Korean has some odd gambling laws (even more odd than the US…) and Oh was allegedly gaming at a foreign casino. Not sure how you can get punished for that by a sports league – but it works out for the Cardinals who are now putting a very solid bullpen together for ’16.
Welcome to St. Louis, Final Boss.
UPDATE:
It’s official.
Cardinals' GM John Mozeliak announces the club has signed Korean RHP Seung-hwan Oh #STLCards pic.twitter.com/KsHPOHEOaa
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) January 11, 2016
Photo: Amazin’ Avenue
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