Taylor Widener’s first appearance in a Samsung Lions jersey was a disappointment from the off. As the replacement for Albert Suarez, he was expected to do more, so it was clearly an unsatisfactory Samsung debut.카지노
Widener started against the SSG Landers in Munhak on 13 August, giving up four runs on 10 hits with two walks and one strikeout in 7.2 innings.
Samsung parted ways with Suarez after he suffered a significant calf muscle injury while fielding a ball in his most recent outing. They immediately contacted Widener, who was claimed off waivers from the NC Dinos around the same time, and took over his contract for the remainder of the season.
Widener made his first appearance in a Samsung uniform on 13 August against Munhak SSG. Photo by Kim Young-koo
Samsung’s foreign pitcher Widener pitches against Munhak SSG on 13 August. Photo (Munhak) = Kim Young-gu
Samsung manager Park Jin-man told reporters before the game on the 13th, “I heard that Widener continued to train in Changwon after being placed on waivers. He said he had no problem pitching right away. I plan to pitch today until I can throw without a pitch count limit.”
Widener struggled in the first inning. Widener gave up a double to Choi Ji-hoon with one out in the bottom of the first, but the runner was thrown out at the plate. However, Widener gave up a double to right field to Kim Kang-min and then a single to right field to Choi Jeong.
Widener had runners on first and third again in the bottom of the second after back-to-back singles by Kim Sung-hyun and Han Yu-seom. Widener induced Oh Tae-gon to walk to load the bases.
In the bottom of the third, Widener was hit by a double to left-centre by leadoff hitter Shin-Soo Choo. The next batter, Choi Ji-hoon, hit a well-struck ball straight to the shortstop for a force out at second base.
After a scoreless bottom of the fourth, Widener was hit by a leadoff single to right by Oh Tae-gon in the top of the fifth. After a stolen base and a sacrifice bunt by Kim Min-sik put runners on first and third, Widener gave up a sacrifice fly to centre field to Choo Shin-soo for his third run of the game.
In the bottom of the sixth, Widener gave up a straight ball to leadoff hitter Kim Kang-min. However, Widener retired the next two batters to end the inning.
Widener, who took the mound in the seventh inning due to his low pitch count, gave up a leadoff single to Oh Tae-gon and stole second base. Two batters later, Widener gave up a single to right to Shin-Soo Choo to end the inning. The Samsung bench pulled Widener and brought in Jang Pil-Jun to save the day.
On the day, Widener was somewhat disappointing, allowing four runs on 10 hits with two walks and one strikeout in 6.2 innings. Widener threw a mix of fastballs (26) and two-seam fastballs (29), topping out at 151 km/h, with a slider (20) and changeup (7).
Widener’s command of his pitches was good, as he threw 63 strikes out of 82 total pitches on the day, but he never really got into a rhythm where he was able to dominate the SSG bats with his pitches. The game could have been even worse if it wasn’t for Lee Jae-hyun’s injury-time walk in the third inning.
With Widener on the bench, Samsung will have a temporary starting rotation for next week’s “four-day break”. Widener will also start against the KIA Tigers in Daegu on the 18th after four days of rest. It will be interesting to see how Widener, who was acquired after parting ways with Suarez to pursue a ‘breakout’ season, will help Samsung fight for the bottom of the standings.