KBO’s Bears sign ex-MLB pitcher Balazovic, release Alcantara

The Doosan Bears said Thursday they have signed former major league pitcher Jordan Balazovic to replace slumping starter Raul Alcantara. The Bears said Balazovic, 25, will make US$250,000 for the rest of this Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season. In a corresponding move, they asked the KBO to place Alcantara on waivers. Balazovic was a fifth-round selection by the Minnesota Twins in the 2016 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft, and made his big league debut with the same club in 2023. He had a 1-0 record with a 4.44 ERA in 18 games that year, all of them relief outings. The Canadian right-hander had been pitching in Triple-A for the Twins this season, posting a 5-4 record with a 5.60 ERA in 24 appearances, including one start. He struck out 49 batters in 35 1/3 innings. According to Baseball Savant website, Balazovic threw four-seam fastball, curveball, slider and changeup in MLB last year. He averaged 95.1 miles per hour with his four-seamer and used that pitch about 47 percent of the time. The Bears said they liked Balazovic's fastball and his ability to throw breaking balls for strikes. Balazovic, listed at 196 centimeters and 97 kilograms, will take the rotation spot vacated by Alcantara, who had missed more than a month earlier in the year with an elbow injury and struggled to a 4.76 ERA with a 2-2 record. The Dominican veteran was in his second tour of duty with the Bears. He was a 20-game winner during his first stint in 2020, but has not been able to match that level of success after rejoining the KBO club ahead of the 2023 season. The Bears allowed Alcantara to travel to the United States in early May for a second opinion on his ailing elbow, after initial tests done in South Korea showed a sprain. In five starts before hitting the sidelines, Alcantara had a 1-1 record with a 2.30 ERA. In seven starts since, the pitcher went 1-1 with a 7.09 ERA over 33 innings. In his latest outing on Wednesday, Alcantara was hammered for six runs on four hits and three walks in only two innings against the L otte Giants. KBO teams can carry a maximum three foreign players, and no more than two pitchers. They can replace up to two of those foreign players per season. The Bears are currently without their other foreign starter, Brandon Waddell, who is out with a shoulder injury. They are contemplating signing a six-week, temporary replacement for Waddell. Source: Yonhap News Agency