*This content was translated by AI.
Yoni Chirinos (33), who escaped safely despite the chaotic situation in his home country, welcomed the reunion with his LG Twins team members.
Chirinos pitched his first bullpen at the LG Spring camp in Scottsdale, Arizona on the 28th (Korea Standard Time). Focusing on the two-seam fastball, the left and right horizontal movements of the sweeper, he threw a total of 25 pitches, including 17 two-seam fastballs, 6 sweeper and 2 fastballs. The maximum speed of the two-seam fastball is 138 kilometers per hour. According to the LG club, even though they pitched at the 70% level, they were satisfied with efficient figures and locations.
Chirinos, who first entered the KBO League last year, contributed to LG's fourth overall victory with 13 wins, 6 losses, a 3.31 ERA and 137 strikeouts in 177 innings in 30 regular-season games. In recognition of his achievement, he signed a contract with two other foreign players, Austin Dean and Anders Tolhurst, for a total of $1.4 million ($300,000 down payment, $900,000 in annual salary, $200,000 in incentives).
Chirinos said through the club, "I'm really grateful to the club for helping me re-sign. I'm happy to get a new opportunity once again. I'm very happy to be back in the spring camp and meet my team members again," he said.
Colleagues who have been together for a season made it easy to decide to renew the contract. Chirinos said, "That was a big reason why I decided to renew the contract because the team atmosphere was so good. I want to show you everything I have next season. I want to try to win again with the team," he said. "When you think of our team, the first thing that comes to mind is team chemistry. The players are united and help each other a lot. That atmosphere remained intense last season. It is an important factor to become a successful team," he stressed.
The Korean baseball culture and KBO league, which were unfamiliar, have already become familiar. He stayed in Korea and enjoyed K-culture while traveling to various places in Seoul, including Myeong-dong with his girlfriend. Chirinos said, "It felt different that pitching coaches, not managers, usually visit the mound. He also experienced a cleaning time in the middle of the inning for the first time. There was such a difference, but in the end, baseball was baseball," he laughed.
"KBO often faces the same batters because 10 teams continue to face each other. So I felt that the habit of identifying the weaknesses of batters and taking notes was important. "It was a big learning that I was able to keep reviewing what I was good at and bad at through the game," he added.
Chirinos' future in the offseason was a pressing matter of interest. Under the leadership of President Donald Trump, the U.S. launched an air strike on Caracas, Venezuela's capital, early on the 3rd and arrested Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife. Since then, much attention has been paid to the safety and future of foreigners in the KBO League of Venezuela as they have increased the pressure on Venezuela.
Fortunately, Chirinos was an eight-hour drive from Caracas, the capital, where the situation took place. His move to the U.S. was smooth due to his past playing in the Major League Baseball. On the 21st, he entered Miami, Florida, USA via Panama from Venezuela. The next day, on the 22nd, he moved to his home in Tampa, Florida, finished his personal maintenance, and arrived in Phoenix on the 24th, where he was thrilled with the team.
Chirinos said, "I was really happy to see the team members again. The camp atmosphere is as good as last year. The new players also smiled, saying, "I'm looking forward to hearing that they are resources that will help the team try to win the championship."
"Last year was a long season in my career as well. I threw a lot of innings, so I focused on resting. I invested a lot of time in recovering my body, and I had time to recover my mental part that I was tired during the season, he said. "The coach asked me how I prepared for the season. He added, "He said let's prepare hard together and try to win the championship once again."
When he was in the Major League, Chirinos was worried that he was free from frequent injuries. However, he played 177 innings under the league's best training team and manager Yeom Kyung-yeop's pitch count management. Chirinos said, "We plan to train again this year in accordance with the schedule set by the coaches and training coaches. Personally, my goal is to become a more helpful player for the team by increasing the number of wins and innings, he said. "I want to show better performance than last year rather than a specific number." Above all, it is most important to play the season healthy without injury. The team's goal is to achieve the top spot in the regular season and then try to win the integrated championship," he said.
Lastly, to the fans, "We ask for a lot of support this season following last season. I hope you trust the team. A good team is being made to win, and the fans' support is a great help. I hope I can see you a lot at the stadium," he said, asking for support.
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*This content was translated by AI.
