Kia has won the Korean Series title for the first time in seven years since 2017, adding its 12th Korean Series trophy in the team’s history. It can be easy to win the championship in a long time, but it is aiming for its second consecutive victory in the Korean Series through bold moves. Instead of renewing the contract with Socrates Brito (32), a “native son-in-law” who has averaged .300 batting average and over 20 home runs for three years, Patrick Wisdom (33), a slugger who hit 88 home runs in the Major League, has been selected as a foreign hitter who will stay with him through the 2025 season.
CBS Sports, a U.S. sports media outlet, reported on the 15th that Patrick Wisdom decided to go to Korea and signed a contract with KIA. KIA, which had been looking for a better foreign hitter with Socrates on the list of players on hold, also admitted that a contract with Wisdom was imminent. An official from KIA said, “We are positively pursuing the recruitment of Wisdom. However, the physical examination process has not yet been completed.”
Considering Socrates’ record and skills over the past three years, it is not strange at all to renew his contract. Socrates, who entered the KBO League for the first time in 2022, recorded a career batting average of 0.302 63 home runs, 270 RBIs and OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 0.843 for three years. Rumors of replacement were raised due to poor performance at the beginning of this season, but he has exploded since June and has shown the best performance among the three seasons with a batting average of 0.310 (171 hits in 552 times at bat) and 26 home runs, 97 RBIs and 13 steals. Although the outfield defense is somewhat weak and it is less enjoyable to hit long balls, giving up Socrates, who has been consistently active, is seen as focusing more on strengthening long-range hitting power.
Wizdham, a right-hitting infielder, is a former prospect who was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals with the 52nd overall pick in the first round in the 2012 rookie draft. He is a first-rounder, but his big league debut was late. He only made his major league debut with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2018, when he was in his mid-to-late 20s. He showed promise with a batting average of 0.260 (13 hits in 50 at-bats) and a 10-run OPS of 0.882 in 32 games in 2018, but he moved to the Texas Rangers in 2019 and the Chicago Cubs in 2020, but only 11 games in which he has played in the majors in two years.
Wisdom, who seemed to be forgotten like that, faced a turning point in his career in 2021. He played 106 games for the Cubs and finally broke the eggs of promising players with a batting average of 0.231 (78 hits in 338 at-bats) with 28 home runs and 61 RBIs and an OPS of 0.823. Although he had a low batting average and a whopping 153 strikeouts while choosing 32 walks, he was sure of his ability to hit with a single stroke, with a whopping 35.9% of all hits.
In 2022 and 2023, he continued to show off his form as a blackmailer and a big hit. He had a batting average of 0.207 (97 hits in 469 times at bat) in 134 games in 2022, 25 homers, 66 RBIs and 53 walks, and 183 strikeouts with an OPS of 0.724 and a batting average of 0.205 (55 hits in 268 times at bat) in 97 games in 2023, with 23 homers, 46 RBIs and 30 walks, and 111 strikeouts with an OPS of 0.789. In 2023, the ratio of homers to total hits reached 41.8 percent.
However, he had a batting average of 0.171 (27 hits in 158 times at bat) with eight homers, 23 RBIs and OPS.629 in 75 games this season, and failed to secure the third baseman position, being lagging behind Christopher Morell or Isaac Paredis. Eventually, he became an out-of-field player, and was released as an FA after the season after transferring to another team. While seeking to advance to an overseas league, he joined Kia’s radar network, and ended up crossing the Pacific Ocean to move to Korea.
KIA chose Wisdom even after giving up the verified “Tes-type” Socrates because Matt Davidson and Wisdom, who hit 46 home runs and became the home run king for NC this season, were confident that they could succeed because of similar types of hitters.
Davison made his major league debut for Arizona in 2013 and then hit 26 home runs and 20 home runs for the Chicago White Sox in 2017 and 2018. Davison’s career performance in the major leagues, who went between the major leagues and minor leagues from 2018 to 2022, is 0.220 54 home runs, 157 RBIs and an OPS of 0.719 in the major leagues.
Although the last season he hit more than 20 home runs in the Major League was in 2018, Davidson joined the KBO League in 2024 and hit 46 home runs. In the Major League, his batting average remained in the early 20s, but in the KBO League, he also kept the batting average at 0.307. His OPS was the third in the entire league with 1.003.
Their performance in the 메이저사이트 Major League does not guarantee success in the KBO League anytime soon, but they should be a good source of reference. At least, Wizdom’s performance in the Major League is even better than Davidson’s, who has a batting average of 0.209 with 88 home runs, 207 RBIs, and an OPS of 0.750 in 455 games. In addition, the final 20 home run season is 2023, which is even more recent than Davidson’s. This means that if Wizdom adapts quickly to the KBO league, Wizdom can perform as well as Davidson’s.
The U.S. “MLB Trade Rumors” also reported Wizdom’s entry into the KBO League, saying, “Matt Davidson became the home run king with 46 home runs this year, with a high-level power and high strikeout rate similar to Wizdom’s in the Major League.” Wizdom is likely to perform well in KIA, which had the highest slugging percentage in the KBO last year.
Will Wisdom be able to compete for home run champion with Davidson by hitting more than 40 home runs like Davidson? If so, chances are high that Kia will win its second consecutive title in the Korean Series.
