The joy of returning to the major leagues didn’t last long.
Left-handed pitcher Andrew Suarez (31), who was released in the U.S. after Japan, has been going through a rough patch since leaving Korea.
The St. Louis Cardinals removed five players from their 40-man roster on July 27: pitchers Suarez, Casey Lawrence and Kyle Leahy, and infielders Irving Lopez and Juniel Cuerrecuto.
Leahy, Lopez, and Cuerrecuto were assigned to the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds, St. Louis’ affiliate, while Suarez and Lawrence became free agents. De facto releases. With the roster moves, St. Louis has five spots open on the 40-man roster.
Suarez signed a minor league deal with the Cardinals in January and went 4-2 with a 4.08 ERA in 28 games (3 starts-64 innings) at Triple-A before earning a major league call-up in late July.
It was his first major league start in three years, since a stint with the San Francisco Giants in 2020, but he was nothing more than a relief pitcher. 온라인카지노
In all 13 games he pitched in relief, Suarez was winless with a 7.16 ERA. His OPS of .926 was not competitive, as he gave up seven home runs in 27⅔ innings.
Suarez has ties to Korean baseball.
He spent a year in the KBO with the LG Twins in 2021.
In 23 games (115⅓ innings), he went 10-2 with a 2.18 ERA and 126 strikeouts.
In the first half of the year, he outperformed Casey Kelly and earned the LG’s starting job, but from July onward, he was sidelined with back and elbow injuries.
His innings pitched deteriorated.
After his disappointing season, he was unable to reach an agreement with LG during contract talks.
When LG refused to meet Suarez’s high demands, he headed to Japan.
He signed a one-year, $800,000 deal (plus incentives) with Jakart Swallows.
However, his arrival to the team was delayed before the season due to the Japanese government’s restrictions on new foreign players due to COVID-19.
He made his first-team debut in late May, but failed to make it past the fifth inning in three of five games.
In six first-team games (five starts), he threw 21⅔ innings, going winless with a 6.23 ERA.
He spent more time in the second team than the first, and it was no surprise that he was not re-signed.
After spending a year in Korea and Japan, he returned to the U.S. this year, only to realize that the major leagues have a high barrier to entry, forcing him to find a new team.
After a series of poor performances and releases in Japan and the U.S., Suarez made a bad choice to leave South Korea two years ago.
It was a losing proposition.
If he had remained a competitive enough pitcher in the KBO, he could have had a long and financially rewarding career with LG, but that’s now a pipe dream.
In order for him to come back to Korea, LG will have to release the hold.
LG holds the rights to Suarez until 2026.
Two years ago, LG had a Plan B that didn’t involve Suarez: right-hander Adam Plutko.
In two years with the LG, Plutko went 26-8 with a 2.40 ERA and 250 strikeouts in 49 games (285⅓ innings), but he didn’t finish well.
After suffering a left pelvic bone contusion while pitching against the Changwon NC on August 26, he fell out with the club during his rehabilitation process.
He was ruled out for the season after delaying his rehabilitation based on the opinion of his personal doctor in the U.S., and returned home early on the 27th as he was also excluded from the Korean Series roster.