Lotte Giants sign 2 new American pitchers

유지호 / 2021-12-24 09:56:56

baseball club-pitchers

▲ In this Associated Press file photo from Oct. 3, 2021, Charlie Barnes of the Minnesota Twins pitches against the Kansas City Royals in the bottom of the first inning of a Major League Baseball regular season game at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. (Yonhap)

▲ In this Getty Images file photo from Aug. 18, 2019, Glenn Sparkman of the Kansas City Royals pitches against the New York Mets in the top of the first inning of a Major League Baseball regular season game at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. (Yonhap)

▲ These photos provided by the Lotte Giants on Dec. 24, 2021, show the club's new pitchers, Glenn Sparkman (L) and Charlie Barnes. (PHOTOS NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

baseball club-pitchers

Lotte Giants sign 2 new American pitchers

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Dec. 24 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean baseball club Lotte Giants announced their signings of two new American pitchers on Friday.

The Giants said former major leaguers Charlie Barnes and Glenn Sparkman will join their rotation on one-year deals. Barnes will make US$610,000, with $460,000 in salary and $150,000 in signing bonus. Sparkman will earn a maximum $800,000, with $500,000 in salary and up to $300,000 in incentives.

Barnes, 26, was a fourth-round selection by the Minnesota Twins at the 2017 draft. The left-hander made his big league debut with the same club in 2021, and had a 0-3 win-loss record with a 5.92 ERA in nine games, including eight starts.

In 16 Triple-A starts this year, Barnes went 6-4 with a 3.79 ERA.

The Giants said Barnes throws a fastball that sits around mid-140s in kilometers per hour and mixes in sliders and changeups effectively. They also noted Barnes' experience as a starting pitcher, with 75 of his 77 games in the minors having come in starts.

Sparkman, 29, was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 20th round in 2013, but pitched his first big league game for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2017.

The right-hander rejoined the Royals prior to the 2018 season. Sparkman went on to make 52 major league appearances in total from 2017 to 2020, with 26 of them in starts. He had a 4-14 record with 5.99 ERA.

Sparkman spent the 2021 season in Triple-A and in Japan with the Orix Buffaloes. He only made six appearances for the Japanese club and had a 0-1 record with a 6.88 ERA.

The Giants said Sparkman is a better pitcher than his numbers from Japan showed, noting that he struggled because a delay in getting his work visa threw his training out of whack.

Barnes and Sparkman will replace Dan Straily and Enderson Franco from the Giants' 2021 rotation.

In 2020, Straily went 15-4 while leading the KBO with 205 strikeouts and finishing second with a 2.50 ERA. The right-hander had a 4.07 ERA this year, and had a 10-12 record with 164 strikeouts in 165 2/3 innings.

Franco lasted just one year in the KBO. He was 9-8 with a 5.40 ERA in 37 games. Ten of his final 12 appearances were relief outings.

Following an earlier signing of outfielder DJ Peters, the Giants have filled their foreign player quota for 2022. Teams in the Korea Baseball Organization can sign up to three players from overseas, with no more than two pitchers.

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