David Buchanan, 35, an ace pitcher for the Samsung Lions in the KBO League, has been traded from the Philadelphia Phillies to the Cincinnati Reds. He is expected to get a chance to return to the Major League from Cincinnati, away from the Philadelphia Phillies where he has strong pitching capability.
Cincinnati bought Buchanan in a trade with Philadelphia on the 28th (Korea Standard Time). Buchanan was assigned to Triple-A Louisville Batts under Cincinnati shortly after the trade.
The U.S. MLB Trade Rumors also reported the news, saying, “Vucanan was not on the 40-man roster this season, so he could be traded even after the deadline. He signed a minor league contract with Philadelphia in February,” adding, “He started 16 of 22 games with the Philadelphia Triple-A Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs and pitched 102 ⅔ innings with an ERA of 4.82. Although the strikeout rate of 17.5% is below average, the walk allowance rate has remained solid at 7.4%.
A seventh-round pick, Buchanan played for the Philadelphia Phillies in the Major League from 2014 to 2015. He posted an ERA of 3.75 in his rookie season, but allowed nearly seven runs per nine innings in his second year. He was only in Triple-A in 2016, and spent seven seasons in Asia thereafter. He spent three seasons in Japan and three seasons with the Korean Samsung Lions. 메이저사이트
Buchanan left an unforgettable memory for the Samsung Lions. As the longest-serving foreign pitcher of the team, he recorded 54 wins and 28 losses with an ERA of 3.02 strikeouts and 539 in 113 games (699 ⅔ innings) between 2020 and 2023. During the period, he pitched the most innings in the KBO League, tied for first in multiple wins, the highest quality start (80 innings), and the second in ERA and strikeouts.
However, they parted ways last winter due to differences of opinion in the renewal negotiations. Samsung offered a two-year, multi-year contract that Buchanan requested, but the offer did not match the amount. Due to the expatriate salary cap, Samsung could offer up to 2.4 million dollars in 2024 and 2.5 million dollars in 2025. As Samsung had to consider renewing its contract with other expatriate players, it was difficult to keep this amount as it was.
In the end, Buchanan returned to the U.S. after negotiations collapsed and was initially expected to sign a major contract with Cincinnati, but things went wrong. Buchanan, who entered the season with Triple-A after signing a minor contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, recorded nine wins and three losses with an ERA of 4.82 in 22 games (16 starts and 102 ⅔ innings). He has garnered 10 wins in this minor league season, including one game with “High Single-A” (seven scoreless innings as a starter).
However, Philadelphia had no seats for the five starters, including Zach Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Rangers Suarez, Christopher Sanchez and Taijuan Walker. They performed well in the early part of the season, but when Walker was out due to injury, Spencer Turnbull filled the vacancy as a starter. Even after Walker and Turnbull left the team due to joint injuries in late June, the Philadelphia Phillies called up rookies such as Tyler Phillips and Michael Mercado, continuing to turn a blind eye to Buchananan.
However, with about a month left in the season, Buchanan left the Philadelphia Phillies for Cincinnati, paving the way for his return to the big leagues. The MLBTR said, “The Cincinnati Reds are suffering from injuries. Over the past few weeks, Andrew Abbott, Hunter Green, and Nick Rodolo were listed as injured. Graham Ashcraft and Brandon Williamson have also been sidelined for several months. Buchanan is a pitcher who has played a lot of innings in Triple-A this season, and provides the depth of the pitcher. “I got a better chance to go to the Major League for the first time in 10 years than I did when I was in the Philadelphia Phillies,” predicting that there will be a call-up soon.
Cincinnati also has Casey Kelly, a pitcher from the same KBO league as Buchanan. After being released by the LG Twins on April 20, Kelly, who signed a minor contract with the Cincinnati Reds, returned to the big league after six years as the call-up was made on April 25. He also garnered his first save since his debut by pitching three perfect innings from the first day of the call-up. Cincinnati, which has lost its autumn baseball games by ranking fourth in the National League with 63 wins and 69 losses (win rate .477), is not in a hurry to get a call-up result. It is expected that Buchanan will receive the call-up when the starting rotation is empty.
