Having reunited with the Doosan Bears after a half-season stint last year in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), American left-hander Brandon Waddell isn’t just a year older and wiser.
The 29-year-old believes he is also a better pitcher.
“I’ve added another pitch that has helped me a lot. And so I’m just excited to go out and compete and get back again facing hitters in the KBO,” Waddell told reporters Thursday after a bullpen session at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. Waddell signed with the Bears on June 13 and is scheduled to start Saturday against the Kiwoom Heroes.
“Last year, I had a slider, but it’s more of a hard slider, so I still have that,” he said. “But this year, I also added a slower, bigger slider that has helped me a lot against lefties.”
Waddell first pitched for the Bears in 2022 as a midseason replacement for Ariel Miranda, the 2021 KBO MVP, who had been struggling with shoulder issues. In 11 starts, beginning in August, Waddell went 5-3 with a 3.60 ERA. In 65 innings, Waddell struck out 40 and walked 24.
It was a solid enough performance that could have merited a new deal, but the Bears went in a different direction. They replaced Waddell and another starter from 2022, Robert Stock, with Dylan File and their one-time ace Raul Alcantara.
Alcantara has come as advertised, ranking second in the KBO with 93 strikeouts and fourth with a 1.94 ERA. File, on the other hand, suffered a head injury after being struck by a comebacker during spring training and was released after just two starts in the KBO. The Bears reached out to a familiar face in Waddell, who was pitching for the Rakuten Monkeys in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) in Taiwan this season. He ended his CPBL stint ranked fourth in the league with a 3.30 ERA and fifth with 60 strikeouts.
Waddell said he wanted to come back with the Bears, but he harbored no ill feelings over their decision not to sign him last winter.
“I had a very, very good time here, but outside of that, it’s out of my control. All I can focus on is my pitching,” he said. “There are things I definitely could have done better last year, and I’m glad now I get the chance to go and try and do better.”
Waddell expected “a lot smoother transition” this year, having already been built up as a starter. Last summer, he had arrived in the KBO having pitched in relief in Triple-A. His most recent start either in the majors or minors had come in 2019.
This year, though, Waddell already threw 71 innings in a dozen starts for the Monkeys before rejoining the Bears.
“I think the No. 1 thing that stands out to me is my body feels a lot better conditioned for the kind of work that I’m going to do here,” he said. “I feel very confident in how I feel and excited to get back out there.”
The Bears are locked in a midseason dogfight for a playoff spot. After losing their fourth consecutive game Thursday, the Bears sit in sixth place 스포츠 at 30-33-1 (wins-losses-ties). The Bears are in a virtual tie with the Heroes, who occupy the fifth and final postseason spot after winning five games in a row. The Bears have five games in hand on the Heroes.
That the Bears have hung around the .500 mark in winning percentage despite getting zero wins from one of their two foreign starters is quite a feat, considering how heavily contenders lean on pitchers from overseas.
