190 ⅓ innings KS 2 wins Lopez → 20 wins & 201 ⅔ innings Hector... 'Peddy's Career' Crow also winning ace?

 Will it be the third ace to win?

The Kia Tigers have finally hired a foreign pitcher. He signed a contract with right-hander Will Crowe (30), a 30-year-old Major League Baseball player. The deal is worth 1 million U.S. dollars including down payment of 200,000 dollars, annual salary of 600,000 dollars and option of 200,000 dollars. The team has exhausted the limit amount of new foreign pitchers. The other team is searching for another pitcher as an abnormal finding was found in the medical check-up stage. 

Expectations are rising both inside and outside the team as the news of Crow's recruitment was made public. Crow's career is extraordinary. He is 185 centimeters tall and weighs 108 kilograms. He has a physique of 10 wins, 21 losses, five saves and an ERA of 5.30 in 94 games (29 starts) in four Major League seasons. He spent two of them full-time.

Notably, he played as a starting pitcher in 25 games with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2021. He pitched 116 ⅔ innings, recording four wins and eight losses with a 5.48 ERA and 111 strikeouts. In addition, he turned into a bullpen pitcher in the 2023 season, posting 6 wins, 10 losses, 4 saves and 16 holds with a 4.38 ERA and 68 strikeouts.

This is the second consecutive year that a pitcher with full-time Major League experience has entered the KBO League. However, he only pitched in five games during the 2023 season due to his shoulder problem. He pitched nine ⅔ with one loss, one save, and an ERA of 4.66. He returned to action in July, but since Pittsburgh was also named as a DFA pitcher, he has posted an ERA of 4.33 in 14 games (two starts, 27 innings) with Triple-A Indianapolis. 

He is also fastballed and powerful. In addition to fastballs, he throws sliders, changeups, curves, and sweeper. He also posted an average fastball speed of 93.7 miles (150.8 kilometers) in 2021. When he was a bullpen pitcher, his maximum speed reached 96.7 miles (155.6 kilometers) last year. He is the kind of pitcher that KIA is looking for. When such a pitcher signed a contract with Kia, some forecast that Erik Pedi, who had 20 wins last year with the NC Dinos, will come back to the game. 

Since Kia introduced the foreign player system in 1999, there have not been many lucks for foreign pitchers in the history of the team. Still, there were only very special foreign pitchers in the team when it won the title. In 2009, Aquilino Lopez won the title. In the same year, he played in 29 games and 190 ⅓ innings, serving as an ace with 14 wins and five losses and an ERA of 3.12. Notably, he garnered two wins in the Korean Series against the SK Wyverns, led by manager Yasin Kim Sung-keun, and contributed significantly to winning the title overall. 

In 2016, he invested a huge amount of 2 million U.S. dollars to recruit Hector Noesi. He won 15 games during 206 ⅔ in the 2016 season, and 20 games during the 2017 season by throwing 201 ⅔. He also won the regular season title and the starting Korean Series title, giving him the winning ring. He was praised as the best foreign pitcher in KIA history for his outstanding ball control, vertical movement and seasoned mound management.  마카오토토주소

After Hector, he met an outstanding pitcher named Aaron Brooks. He led the mound in the 2020 season with 11 wins and 4 losses and ERA of 2.50. Expectations were high for the best foreign pitcher in the league. However, he came back home early after his family had a car accident in the U.S. in September. He pitched in only 13 games in the 2021 season. He was disgraced as he bought e-cigarettes containing drugs.  

Given his career and ball power, Crow is expected to perform as well as those of the trio. Analysts say that Kia ranks among Korean starters competitive with Yang Hyun-jong, Lee Ui-ri and Yoon Young-chul, and that its bullpen is strong enough. If Crow serves as an ace pitcher including an inning starter, it could build a strong mound and jump into the race to win the title. Expectations are high already high even though names of foreign pitchers are not mentioned yet.