It was a game that proved why the Doosan Bears are in the top 5 all season long. Brandon Waddell (29, USA),메이저놀이터 a “lucky” stranger who returned to the Doosan Bears, gave his team a victory with all his might. And after the game, he passed the ball to his teammates and thanked them.
Doosan Bears won 7-4 in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League home game against KT Wiz held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 5th. With this victory, Doosan tied for 3rd place and recorded 47 wins, 43 losses and 1 draw.
Brandon’s fighting spirit shone. In the first inning, he gave up an infield hit to Sang-Cheol Moon after a run, but then both batters were hit. In the second inning, lead hitter Jang Seong-woo was allowed a left-handed hit, but Kim Sang-soo struck out and Oh Yoon-seok was eliminated with a double hit. In the third inning, Alford hit a double in the middle right after two outs, but ended the inning by inducing Moon Sang-cheol with a floating ball from first baseman. Episodes 4 and 5 are three-way offenses. While Brandon was fighting well, the team’s batting line picked up 7 runs in the 5th inning, lightening Brandon’s shoulders.
Brandon gave an infield hit to lead batter Ahn Chi-young in the 6th inning, then threw a walk to Hwang Jae-gyun after two outs. However, Lee Ho-yeon was caught with a floating ball in right field, and the scoreless streak continued. And Brandon, who stepped on the mound in the 7th inning, finished his pitching that day with a three-way strike. Brandon’s performance that day was 7 innings, 4 hits, 8 strikeouts, 1 walk and no runs. He threw a total of 91 pitches, including 38 fastballs, 27 cutters, 17 sliders, 7 changeups, and 2 curveballs. His highest fastball velocity was 151 km, and his average fastball velocity was 148 km. 63 strikes, 28 balls.
In fact, Doosan launched an all-out war on the 4th, sending all of Pil Seung-jo Kim Myung-shin, Jeong Cheol-won, Park Chi-guk, and Hong Kun-hee, even when they were behind. But in the end, they couldn’t turn the game around and lost by one point. If Brandon didn’t hold on early in the game, the bullpen could be overloaded. However, even in the heatwave, Brandon was responsible for 7 innings alone and relieved the burden of the bullpen. Although Kim Myung-shin and Hong Geon-hee took the mound, allowing a chase of up to 3 points, it was still a great strength.
Brandon is a foreign pitcher re-recruited by Doosan as a replacement for Dylan Pyle, which was released during the season. The total amount of his contract is 280,000 dollars (356 million won). Last year, Brandon already joined the Doosan Bears as a substitute foreign player and recorded 5 wins and 3 losses and an average ERA of 3.60 in 11 games. However, after the end of the 2022 season, he headed to Taiwan after receiving a notice of non-renewal. In this year’s Taiwanese Professional Baseball (CPBL), he started 11 games for the Rakuten Monkeys, went 5-4 with an ERA of 2.69. And with the release of Dylan, Doosan reached out again, and continues to continue the kite.
His performance this season has also been outstanding. He is showing off his ace-level performance. He started in 7 games, starting against Kiwoom on June 24, and is recording 4 wins and 2 losses with an ERA of 2.14. In 42 innings, he allowed 33 hits (one home run), 10 walks, 44 strikeouts, and 12 runs (10 earned) with an on-base percentage (WHIP) of 1.02 and a batting average of 0.220. He pitched quality starts (less than 3 earned runs in 6 innings) as many as 5 times. Along with Brandon, Doosan has powerful three punches: Alcantara (10-5, ERA 2.46) and Kwak Bin (9-3, ERA 2.44). It is also the driving force behind Doosan’s continued cruising this season.
After the game, Doosan coach Lee Seung-yeop praised him, saying, “Brandon showed off a perfect pitch that allowed 7 scoreless innings. He showed good coordination with catcher Jang Seung-hyun and pitched effectively against right-handed hitters.”
Brandon said, “Today’s game was won thanks to the fielders scoring a lot early on. Also, the teamwork with Jang Seung-hyun was very good. I felt it last year, but I think he is a very good player.” showed up as well. He continued, “I always try to win the game by changing the speed and pitch, but today I did well.” Brandon steadfastly threw his ball from the mound despite the heatwave that day. He said, “I think the weather is an inevitable part. I think good results will follow if you drink a lot of water and take good care of yourself. Even in the hot weather, the fans came and cheered hard, which gave me a lot of strength. Thank you to the fans. ” he greeted.