*This content was translated by AI.
Birch Smith (36), who left Korea after making shocking derogatory remarks calling the Republic of Korea a garbage country, seeks to enter the Major League again.
Smith signed with the Detroit Tigers ahead of this season. However, it is not a major league contract, but a minor league contract.
Smith recently joined hands with Detroit, according to a report by Evan Pezzold of Detroit Free Press, a local Detroit media outlet.
According to reports, the contract includes an invitation to the spring camp.
The key is whether Smith will enter the Major League or not. If Smith is listed on the Major League roster this season, he will be guaranteed an annual salary of $1.5 million (about 2 billion won). However, some Detroit fans are complaining that they are paying too much money to a 36-year-old pitcher.
Smith greeted Korean fans by signing a contract with Hanwha Eagles in December 2022.
Smith, who made his major league debut for the San Diego Padres in the 2013 season, has played for various teams. Before entering Korea, he played for the Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, San Francisco Giants, and Oakland Athletics (now Athletics).
In the 2022 season, he played for the Seibu Lions in the Japanese professional baseball league (NPB) and experienced Asian baseball. In Seibu, he pitched in 20 games, one win, four holds, one save, 37 strikeouts, and an ERA of 3.29 (38 ⅓ innings).
Smith is expected to play the role of Hanwha's first starter in the 2023 season. However, on April 1 of that year, he felt pain in his shoulder while pitching in the opening game against the Kiwoom Heroes, and the examination revealed fine muscle damage. After that, Hanwha finally decided to replace a foreign pitcher after showing no improvement.
As a result, he pitched in one game and allowed three hits, no four outs, two strikeouts, and two runs in two ⅔ innings with an ERA of 6.75. He pitched 60 times in total. Some fans visited his personal social networking site and sent him a message of condemnation. Then Smith responded emotionally, saying, "Take care in a garbage country," causing another controversy.
Smith has been on the big league stage again since the 2024 season. After playing for the Miami Marlins and Baltimore Orioles last season, he played for a minor league team under the Pittsburgh Pirates. However, he was released after showing sluggish performance with a 7.08 ERA (16 earned runs in 20 ⅓ innings) with two wins and no losses in 19 games on the Triple-A stage.
Since then, he has been successful in rebounding in the Dominican Winter League, with 20 strikeouts in 15 ⅓ innings, and was eventually called by Detroit. Smith, who is quite old, is expected to play the role of a bullpen if he is called up to the big league in the future. Will he be able to show good performance in the spring camp and make his name on the opening roster of the Major League Baseball.
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*This content was translated by AI.
