The left-handed lion who won 48 wins in the KBO League is still alive in the major leagues.
Brooks Rayleigh (35, New York Mets) fought well again. On the 27th (hereinafter Korean time), in a home game against the 2023 Major League Milwaukee Brewers held at Citi Field in Flushing, New York, USA, he took the mound as the third pitcher in the top of the 8th inning, trailing 1-2, and scored 1 walk and 1 strikeout in 1 inning.
Starter Justin Verlander pitched 5 scoreless innings토토사이트, but right-hander Drew Smith gave up 2 runs in 1 inning. Rayleigh was unable to add a hold as he took the mound from behind. With 14 holes in the season, he is still tied for second in the National League with Peter Strezeki (Milwaukee Brewers). Strezeki did not pitch on this day.
Rayleigh got off to a shaky start, walking lead hitter Luis Urias in the top of the 8th inning, trailing 1-2. He mixed the cutter, changeup, and sweeper, but the ball went out of the strike zone a lot. However, after defeating Blake Perkins with a cutter, he induced a ground ball from third base with a sinker. He went a little high two-seam to Joey Wilmer, but it was a floating ball to center field.
The highlight was a match against 2018 National League MVP Christian Yelich. He finished the inning by striking out five sweepers and striking out foul tips. After signing a 9-year, $215 million (approximately 279.5 billion won) extension contract in the 2019-2020 offseason, Yelich’s performance slightly declined, but he is still a hitter that cannot be ignored. For Rayleigh, his ego was definitely built up.
Rayleigh has a batting average of 0.235 and a WHIP of 1.26 this season, which is slightly higher than the batting average of 0.189 and WHIP of 0.97 in 2022, when he was in Tampa Bay. It is also notable that his batting average (0.180) for right-handed batters is lower than that for left-handed batters (0.288). He threw the ball diligently, appearing in 33 games, the most on the team after Adam Octavino (34 games).
When Rayleigh finishes this season, the two-year, $10 million contract signed with the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2021-2022 free agent market ends. This season, the New York Mets are falling for one reason or another despite spending astronomical money, but the Rayleigh trade is as successful as it is.
Merrill Kelly (Arizona Diamondbacks) is the first to be cited as a successful example of major league reverse export from the KBO League. If the starter is Kelly, the bullpen is definitely Rayleigh. He’s in his mid-30s, but a reliever pitcher has a good chance of surviving a few more years in the majors.
