Professional baseball Doosan Bears foreign pitcher Raul Alcantara (32) returns to Korea after completing a checkup for an elbow injury in the United States.
In an interview before the game against Kiwoom Heroes in the '2024 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League' held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 8th, Doosan coach Lee Seung-yeop said, "We confirmed that Alcantara received the same diagnosis as expected at a domestic hospital. For now, he will return home tomorrow. “So we plan to decide on a specific time to return.”
Alcantara is a veteran foreign pitcher who recorded a total of 94 games (594⅔ innings) in the KBO League with 45 wins, 23 losses, and an ERA of 3.00. He played in Japanese professional baseball in 2021 and 2022 and returned to Doosan again in 2023. He showed good performance this season as well, with 5 games (31⅓ innings), 1 win, 1 loss, and an average ERA of 2.30.
Alcantara, who was playing the role of Doosan's ace, suddenly complained of discomfort in his elbow after taking the mound against Kiwoom on the 21st of last month and recording 4 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, and no runs in 7 innings and has not played in the game. A domestic hospital diagnosed him with a simple sprain of his right elbow and told him that surgery was not necessary, but Alcantara maintained his stance that he would receive a direct examination by his U.S. doctor.
Alcantara, who eventually went to the United States, underwent a thorough examination by his doctor located in Texas, USA, in the early morning of the 8th (Korean time) and was diagnosed with a simple right elbow sprain, the same as that of the domestic medical staff. The sprain is a minor injury that does not require surgery, so there is a high possibility that Alcantara will be able to return quickly if he has the will. After completing his medical examination, Alcantara is scheduled to return to Korea immediately.
Coach Lee Seung-yeop said, "I think we need to talk to Alcantara's training department and make a schedule. We need to listen to the opinion of the general player first. The timing of his return is up to him," and emphasized that ultimately, Alcantara's will to return is the most important thing.
Doosan is ranked 4th in the league in starting ERA this season (4.50). However, although Doosan (39 games) is the team that has played the most games in the league, it ranks 6th in the league in innings played by starting pitchers (188 innings) and is tied for 4th in the league in quality starts (3 earned runs or less in 6 innings) (13). ) is limited to recording. This is largely due to the fact that foreign pitcher Brandon Waddell returned on the 1st after being out of action for a while due to an injury, and the timing of Alcantara's return has not yet been determined.
Since the starting pitchers cannot handle many innings, the burden has no choice but to fall on the bullpen pitchers. For Doosan, Lee Byung-hyun (22 games) has appeared in the most games in the league, Choi Ji-kang (20 games) is tied for 3rd in the league, and Park Chi-guk (19 games) is tied for 10th. Closing pitcher Hong Geon-hee pitched three consecutive pitches from the 2nd to the 4th. Coach Lee Seung-yeop said, “(Lee) Byung-hun, (Hong) Geon-hee, and (Choi) Ji-kang all took three days off, including yesterday. “We are making a lot of effort to manage the areas where we can,” he said, expressing the difficulties of operating a bullpen.
In the end, the most obvious solution is for starting pitchers to go long innings. Currently, there are no reliable pitchers in Doosan's starting lineup except for Brand and Kwak Bin, so Alcantara's healthy return is that much more important. Coach Lee Seung-yeop looked forward to Alcantara's return, saying, "I don't know when Alcantara will return, but when he does, the pitching depth will become more solid. If we hold out just a little longer until then, I think we will be in an atmosphere where we can hit once when Alcantara returns." /[email protected]
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