Samsung's foreign ace will eventually join the WBC national team! Will he play in the final round of "first appearance"

*This content was translated by AI.

Samsung Lions' foreign ace Ariel Furado (30) will eventually join the Panama World Baseball Classic (WBC) national team. Expectations are growing not only for Panama fans but also for Samsung fans.

Samsung said on the 13th, "Foreign pitcher Furado is scheduled to join the Panama national team. The timing of joining the Lionesses is expected to vary depending on the results of the tournament, he said.

With the 2026 WBC tournament held in March, Korean fans will be able to see a welcome face playing in the KBO league. This is the first time that Furado will play in the WBC finals.

I've been on the preliminary stage before. He played as the ace of the Panama national team in the preliminary round of the 2023 WBC tournament. However, he did not participate in the finals after he was confirmed to join the Kiwoom Heroes.

Panama is in Group A 2026 WBC along with Puerto Rico, Cuba, Canada and Colombia. The Group A finals will be held at Hiram Bison Stadium in Puerto Rico in March. Panama will face Cuba, Puerto Rico, Canada, and Colombia in that order. If he or she makes it to the semifinals or higher, he or she could meet South Korea. After completing the Panama national team schedule, Furado will join Samsung and greet fans again in the KBO league.

Earlier, Jeff Duda, a reporter for the World Baseball Network, a media outlet that mainly deals with international baseball tournaments, said on his personal social networking service (SNS) last month, "Panama's rotation for WBC selection will consist of Logan Allen (28, Cleveland Guardians), Jamie Barria (30), Humberto Maya (29, Chunichi Dragons), and Furado."

Furado joined the Texas Rangers in the U.S. Major League Baseball (MLB) through an international prospect contract in December 2012 and made his first major league debut in the 2018 season. In the 2019 season, the following year, he took the mound in 32 games between the starting pitcher and the bullpen. Since then, Furado has played for the New York Mets, Dominican Winter League, and minor league teams under the Minnesota Twins.

His overall major league record was 12 wins and 16 losses with a 5.97 ERA in 45 appearances. In addition, he pitched in 131 games in his career in the minor leagues, recording 47 wins, 24 losses, one save, and an ERA of 3.39.

It was in the 2023 season that he became involved with Korean baseball. At that time, Kiwoom recruited him as a foreign ace in the team. Even after the 2023 season, he took the mound in 30 games, recording 11 wins, 8 losses and a 2.65 ERA. In a total of 183 ⅔ innings, he recorded 164 hits (seven homers), 41 walks, and 64 runs (54 earned runs) with 147 strikeouts on balls that hit nine bodies. In the following year, he also played for Kiwoom and took the mound in 30 games, recording 10-8 record with a 3.36 ERA. His detailed performance in the 2024 season was 189 strikeouts and 78 runs (71 earned runs) that hit 185 hits (19 homers) and 32 walks in 190 ⅓ innings.

The 2025 season has seen a change. Moving the team to Samsung. And as in the last two seasons, he took the mound in 30 games, marking 15 wins, 8 losses and a 2.60 ERA. In 197 ⅓ innings, he had 177 hits (17 homers) with 36 walks and 65 runs (57 earned runs) with 142 strikeouts. In the KBO League, Hurado is a Samsung man in the 2026 season with 36 wins and 24 losses in 90 games and an ERA of 2.87. It has renewed its contract with Samsung for the 2026 season on the condition of a total of $1.7 million including options.

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*This content was translated by AI.