Baseball's Doosan parted ways with Alcantara to sign right-hander Balajovic
Baseball's Doosan parted ways with Alcantara to sign right-hander Balajovic
Blog Article
The Doosan Bears have parted ways with Raul Alcantara (31) and signed Jordan Balazovic (26) as their new foreign pitcher.
"Doosan requested a waiver from the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) for right-handed pitcher Alcantara and signed Balazovic for a total of $250,000," the club announced on Thursday.
A native of Toronto, Canada, Balazovic, who stands at 196 centimeters tall and weighs 97 kilograms, was selected in the fifth round of the 2016 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft by the Minnesota Twins.
Balazovic made his major league debut in 2023, going 1-0 with a 4.44 ERA in 18 games and 24 1/3 innings pitched that year.
In 138 career minor league games (83 starts), he has a 29-28 record, seven shutouts, one save, and a 4.40 ERA.
This year, he appeared in 24 games (one start) for Triple-A St. Paul Saints in Minnesota, going 5-4 with a 5.60 ERA in 35⅓ innings pitched.
According to the Doosan organization, "Balajovic is a hard-throwing pitcher with a fastball that comes out of the zone. His fastball reaches a high of 156 kilometers per hour and averages 150 kilometers per hour." "He can put his changeup, including a splitter, curveball, and slider, 고스톱 게임 in the strike zone and has excellent strikeout ability," the club said.
Balajovic will join the team after finalizing the administrative process.
Alcantara left the Doosan after failing to perform at his best due to injuries.
After joining the KT Wiz in 2019, Alcantara was signed by Doosan in 2020, where he went 20-2 with a 2.54 ERA and served as an ace.
Alcantara, who went on to play in the Nippon Professional Baseball League, returned to Doosan last year and was consistent, going 13-9 with a 2.67 ERA.
This year, however, he went 2-2 with a 4.76 ERA due to an elbow injury.
He hasn't been the same since May, when he returned from injury, going 1-1 with a 7.09 ERA in seven starts.
Doosan reportedly informed Alcantara of his departure shortly before announcing the signing of Balajovic.