Keisho has gone from promising to troubling in just two game

Keisho Shirakawa (23), a short-term foreign pitcher for the Doosan Bears of the Korean Baseball Organization, has gone from promising to troubling in just two games.

Shirakawa was removed before the fifth inning for the second straight game after giving up five runs on four hits (one home run) and four walks with one strikeout in three innings of work against the LG Twins in the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on April 19.

The game was tied 0-0 in the top of the first inning. After a leadoff single to center by Hong Chang-ki, Austin Dean singled to right and Moon Bo-kyung walked straight up the middle to load the bases. He then induced a grounder to Kim Hyun-soo at second base to trade runs and outs. Second baseman Kang Seung-ho grounded out to second base to extend the inning, allowing Hong Chang-ki to reach third base. Oh walked to load the bases with two outs, but Park struck out Dong-won on a wild pitch to end the threat.

Shirakawa added another run in the top of the third inning to make it 4-1 after a triple in the bottom of the second. With the bases loaded, he faced Austin and allowed a solo home run. A seven-pitch outside slider (128 mph) on a full count led to a two-run home run over the fence. It was Shirakawa’s fourth walk-off home run of the season.

He struggled with his pitches in the bottom of the fourth inning with a 5-2 lead.

After an eight-pitch walk to leadoff hitter Oh Ji-hwan, he was hit by a pitch and walked Park Dong-won and Park Hae-min. Park’s was a straight ball.

Shirakawa was replaced by Lee Kyo-hoon with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth inning. He threw 75 pitches. Lee gave up back-to-back singles to Shin Min-jae and Hong Chang-ki, allowing all three runners to reach base. With the final score of five runs, his season ERA jumped from 5.06 to 6.07.

Shirakawa signed a short-term replacement foreign player contract with Doosan for a total of 4 million yen (approximately $34 million) to fill in for Brandon Waddell, 파워볼게임 who went on the disabled list with a shoulder injury on Oct. 10.

A former Japanese independent league ace, Shirakawa entered the KBO in May as a short-term replacement for SSG Landers and proved to be a competitive pitcher, going 2-2 with a 5.09 ERA in five games. With the exception of a brief setback against the Sasik Lotte Giants on July 7 (eight runs in 1 1/3 innings, seven earned), his ERA has been in the two-run range. After his six-week contract with SSG expired, Shirakawa extended his stay in South Korea for another six weeks with an offer from Doosan, which was in the midst of a short-term foreign recruitment drive. His salary doubled from 1.8 million yen to 2.2 million yen. 34 million won is the current salary of Choi Ji-kang, a member of Doosan’s pitching staff.

His highly anticipated debut with Doosan was a disappointment,

As he was pulled early after allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits and six walks with three strikeouts in 3⅔ innings against the Samsung Lions in Jamsil on March 13, throwing 83 pitches. Despite errors by shortstop Park Joon-young and first baseman Yang Seok-hwan, he was shaky, giving up a whopping six walks. The six walks were his most in a single game, surpassing his four walks on June 1 against the Gochuk Kiwoom Heroes in his KBO debut. His strike (43) to ball (40) ratio was also nearly 1:1.

Shirakawa, who is new to the professional stage, has struggled in games with large crowds. On June 7, he suffered his worst start of the season against Lotte at Sajik Stadium with 20,678 fans, allowing eight runs (seven earned) on seven hits, three walks and one strikeout in 1 1/3 innings, while Samsung Electronics on July 13 and LG Electronics on July 19 also sold out 23,750 seats at Jamsil Stadium. In three games with more than 20,000 fans in attendance, Shirakawa’s ERA was 15.75 (14 runs in eight innings).

When Shirakawa’s move to Doosan was confirmed, the expectation was that his hard-hitting pitches and variety of pitches would shine through as he moved from the hitter-friendly literature to the pitcher-friendly confines of the stadium. However, when the lid was lifted, it was clear that the increased size of the stadium was having a significant impact on his mental game. “It was a different nervousness from the Lotte game,” Shirakawa said after his Doosan debut. My legs were shaking,” he said.

Shirakawa’s ultimate goal is to make it to the Nippon Professional Baseball League,

Which is considered a step above the KBO. He didn’t leave for Japan after signing with SSG because he realized that the KBO, a professional league, would be much more favorable for him to realize his dream than the independent league. However, if he continues to perform as a second-team five-starter in the KBO, it’s possible that his next step will be back to the independent leagues.

Lee, who hit 159 home runs in Nippon Professional Baseball from 2004 to 2011, said of Shirakawa, “Japan has bigger ballparks and bigger crowds than Korea. Your experience in the KBO will be a great learning experience, but if you continue to throw like this, your dreams of entering Nippon Professional Baseball will disappear.”

Shirakawa’s third start after the move will be against the Jamsil Kiwoom Heroes on May 25th. With a relatively smaller crowd than Samsung and LG Electronics expected to attend, it will be interesting to see if the team can get its first win after two games. “In the end, we have to overcome ourselves. No, we will overcome it,” Lee said encouragingly.