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| ▲ This Feb. 15, 2022, file photo provided by the Lotte Giants shows the club's new pitcher, Glenn Sparkman, during spring training. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This Feb. 28, 2022, file photo provided by the Lotte Giants shows the club's new pitcher, Glenn Sparkman, in action during a simulated game at Sangdong Stadium in Gimhae, some 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
baseball-pitcher
New Giants pitcher Sparkman to skip KBO exhibition games, jump straight to regular season
SEOUL, March 25 (Yonhap) -- With the preseason in South Korean baseball winding down and the league's 10 teams heading toward the start of the new regular season, Lotte Giants' new right-hander Glenn Sparkman is the only one of 30 foreign players not to make an appearance.
And it will stay that way for the rest of the exhibition campaign, according to team sources Friday.
Sparkman's buildup for his first season in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) was interrupted by a bout with COVID-19 before the start of spring training, and then by pains on his side that he developed during a simulated game on Feb. 28.
Though he has been recovering, Sparkman hasn't been available for the preseason, which began on March 12 and will wrap up next Tuesday. The regular season begins April 2.
The sources said Friday Sparkman will likely make his KBO debut during the April 8-10 home opening series against the Doosan Bears at Sajik Stadium in Busan, some 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
In lieu of pitching in exhibition games, Sparkman has been working his way through pitching programs set by the club, and will get into a couple of live batting practices and one simulated game before his debut, the sources added.
Sparkman, 29, agreed to a one-year deal worth up to US$800,000 in December. He was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 20th round in 2013, but pitched his first major league game for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2017.
Sparkman 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 split last 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.
Along with Sparkman, the Giants have another new face in their rotation in Charlie Barnes, a former Minnesota Twins pitcher. Barnes has a 1.13 ERA over eight innings across his two preseason appearances.
They have replaced Dan Straily and Enderson Franco from the Giants' 2021 rotation.
The Giants had the worst team ERA in the league last year at 5.37 and allowed the most runners per inning, with a 1.57 mark in walks and hits per innings pitched (WHIP).
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