Drew Luchinski (35, Oakland), who is familiar to us after 4 years in the KBO League, did not return to the major leagues even in his second appearance. On the contrary, only the future prospects were darkened with a result that was not much different from his first game.
Luczynski, who had a delayed start to the season due to injury, gave up 5 runs (3 earned runs) while receiving 11 hits in 5⅔ innings in his first appearance of the season against Cincinnati on April 29 (Korean time). And in his second appearance against Seattle on the 5th, he collapsed, recording 4 hits (1 home run), 5 walks and 5 runs in 3⅔ innings. He is off to a sluggish start to the season with no wins and two losses and an earned run average of 7.71 in his two appearances.
Auckland, who booked the worst team this season, may not have one problem with Luczynski, but as a player, the rotation shooter was an emergency. And skeptical views began to arise in Auckland’s pioneering plan, which signed a 1+1 year total of 8 million dollars (about 10.6 billion won) with Luchinski.
Auckland, synonymous with ‘Moneyball’, is famous for finding high-efficiency players at low cost. Luchinski, who played an active role as a stable starting pitcher in the KBO League, was a ‘low risk, low return’ player who could rotate for a team for about a year. Auckland wasn’t expecting a ‘big hit’ either. However, the club is caught up in an unexpected problem. Luchinski is unable to adapt to the ‘pitch clock’ introduced in the major leagues this year.
Luczynski was seen throwing the ball in haste several times against Seattle as he started being chased by the pitch clock. In the end, this led to the first pitch and a walk, ruining the game. It wasn’t such a bad pitch until the 3rd inning, but in the 4th inning, he gave up a walk and collapsed. The walk was not an elaborate match, but it was a failure to throw his own ball. 안전놀이터
Luczynski wasn’t a walker in the KBO League. However, he said there is no pitch clock in the KBO League. Luczynski also had instances of pitch clock violations during his exhibition matches. Oakland, who believed that Luczynski’s control was relatively stable, is in danger of losing.
Luchinski also said in an interview with the local media after the game, “(In the 4th situation) I lost it (rhythm) and couldn’t get it back. The clock keeps ticking, and I have to keep going, and I couldn’t get it back,” he said candidly. He continued, “Baseball is kind of a tough game, and everyone is trying to do their job. But sometimes when the snowball is rolling, it’s hard to stop it. I wanted to stop it today, but I was disappointed in myself for not being able to.”
‘Mercury News’, a local influential media, also said, ‘What was strange about the match against Seattle was that Luchinski came to Oakland with a reputation as a pitcher who can throw strikes, recording only 34 walks in 194 innings in Korea last season.’ He said, ‘Luczynski admitted that he was still in the stage of adapting to pitch clock, and he felt twisted in the 4th inning’.