The San Diego Padres of the U.S. Major League Baseball (MLB) announced on March 20 (Korea time) that they will send pitcher Ko Woo-suk (26) to Triple-A El Paso Chihuahua in the minor league.
After the end of the 2023 season, the San Diego Padres gave 900,000 dollars (about 1.2 billion won) to the LG Twins in the Korean KBO League and signed a two-year contract with Ko Woo-suk for 4.5 million dollars (about 6 billion won).
However, Ko Woo-suk was very sluggish in the 2024 Major League Spring camp with a walk-and-hit percentage per inning (WHIP) of 2.308 with one loss in four ⅓ innings in five games and an average earned run score of 12.46 innings.
Prior to the opening two consecutive games of the San Diego Padres season, the warm-up match against his former team LG Twins made a save, but the contents were not good, including two runs in one inning.
In the end, Ko Woo-suk came to Korea for the Seoul Series, but as he was relegated to Triple-A, he could not make his major league debut with the San Diego Padres.
The San Diego Union-Tribune said the Padres only have until March 28 (local time) to decide which team to assign Ko to. Chances are high that he will build his minor league career in Double A.
Double A is one level lower than Triple A, the highest grade in the minor league. The San Diego Union-Tribune, a 156-year-old local newspaper, added, “The Padres believe that Ko does not need to experience the Pacific Coast League (PCL).”
The El Paso Chihuahuas are a team in the Triple-A PCL East. The San Diego Union-Tribune said the Padres do not want Ko to go through the Pacific Coast League environment (at this point) that is favorable to batters.
Ko was not officially confirmed to play in the U.S. Major League Baseball until January 4, 2024. According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, Padres manager Mike Shildt (56) said, “I started preparing late to pitch (good) in time for the opening game. I was not able to build up my body as fast as other players in the spring camp.”
Coach Mike Shildt encouraged Ko Woo-seok, saying, “I am confident that I will be able to provide practical help to the San Diego Padres from some point this season.”
Ajay Preller (47), president and general manager of the Padres, also said in the San Diego Union-Tribune, “I predicted that the time to completely improve my physical condition would be a little later than usual. I want to bring him to the Major League when I am ready,” similarly explaining the reason why he sent Ko to the Minor League. 여우알바
The San Diego Padres have successful cases from the KBO league, such as Kim Ha-sung (29), who won the Gold Glove in the National League Utility Division three years after entering the U.S. professional baseball league.