The Samsung Lions of professional baseball, which suffered from foreign batter Ruben Cardenas’ inability to play due to back pain, agreed to sign a contract with Lewin Diaz.
It was very difficult to find a substitute ahead of the closing date for the replacement of foreign players (August 15). However, Samsung achieved the difficult feat. Diaz completed his visa issuance at the Mexican embassy and flew to Korea. He will undergo a medical examination in Daegu and sign an official contract if he passes the examination safely.
Diaz, a native of the Dominican Republic, played for the Miami Marlins for three years from 2020 as a left-handed, left-handed first baseman with a physique of 188 centimeters, weight, and 105 kilograms. He played 112 games in the big leagues, posting a batting average of 181. (58 hits in 321 times at bat), 13 homers, 27 RBIs, 19 walks, 99 strikeouts, and a .227 slugging percentage.
Though not successful in the 안전놀이터 Major League, Triple-A recorded a batting average of 258 (262 hits in 1,017 at-bats) in 274 games with 56 home runs, 179 RBIs and a .341 slugging percentage. He showed slugging power with 20 home runs in 2021, 19 in 2022, and 17 last year.
He is currently playing in the Mexican League this season. He started his season with Piratas de Campeche and moved to Diablos Rojos del Mexico, where he posted a batting average of 376 (101 hits in 269 times at bat) in 75 games with 19 home runs, 77 RBIs and a .452 slugging percentage. Although he is an extreme team of Tagore and Pitcher, he ranks third in slugging percentage, fourth in on-base percentage and OPS, fifth in RBIs and sixth in homers.
Diaz once hit a home run off Eric Peddy (currently St. Louis Cardinals), a former 20th-win MVP of the KBO. Diaz started as the fifth first baseman in an away game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 15, 2021, when he was a member of Miami. He was the first hitter in the fifth inning, trailing 0-2, and Peddy, who started in Washington at the time, and hit the eighth sinker after a full count to lead to a superior solo arch.
“Diaz is on his way to Korea,” Samsung coach Park Jin-man told reporters ahead of a home game against KT Wiz on Tuesday. “It was because he moved fast in the club.” “I saw the video and he had a good physique and good ability to produce long balls and contact long balls. He played the most defense positions and plans to use him as a familiar first baseman,” he added.
Coach Park Jin-man also said, “We spent nearly a month without foreign hitters, and if Diaz joins, it will be a great help,” adding, “The players will have faith in each other and will help Diaz adapt well.”
As is well known, Daegu Samsung Lions Park is a batter-friendly stadium. Attention is focusing on whether Diaz, who combines precision and long hitters, will be able to send cool balls over the fence to solve the problem.
