Is it true that KT's left-hander pitched 3 ⅓ in an exhibition game? "It's a minor contract, but it raises interest in DET."

*This content was translated by AI.

Left-hander Enmanuel Heyesus (30), who packed his bags after being replaced by KT Wiz after the KBO League 2025 season, announced the prelude to a turnaround on the U.S. stage. Although he is an "invited player" who started with a minor league contract, he is catching the attention of the Detroit Tigers with his overwhelming pitching content.

Heysus started the away game against the Atlanta Braves at Cool Today Park in Florida on the 25th (Korea time) and allowed two hits, one walk and three runs (all of them not guilty) in three ⅓ innings. There were runs on the record, but the pitching content was stable enough to have no earned run. The hit rate was very low at 0.167.

On this day, Heysus maintained his composure even though he was not lucky. In the bottom of the first inning, Atlanta's leadoff hitter Ronald Acuña Jr. was allowed to walk, but Matt Olsen's fly ball after one out was unfortunately hit by strong winds and sunlight. He seemed to overcome the crisis by catching Acuña as a checker, but in Austin Riley's at-bat with two outs and a runner on first base, a fly ball to left field turned into a catch error, leading to a crisis at second and third base.

Here, as the number of pitches in Heysus increased, Pedro Garcia took the mound temporarily and hit consecutive timely doubles by Ozzy Albies and Mike Yastremski, and all Heysus' runners home.

Heyesus, who took the mound again after taking permission from his opponent in the bottom of the second inning, handled both the second and third innings as three-and-out offenses. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Heysus was replaced after dealing with Yastremski and Li Hao-yu. Heysus, who threw 59 pitches, appears to have been limited to the number of 60-pitch pitches.

Except for the disappointing scenes in the defense in the first inning, Heysus maintained his calmness with his experience in the KBO league. In particular, he showed off enough stamina to play three ⅓ of innings despite being at the beginning of the exhibition game, thanks to his practical sense raised in the Venezuelan Winter League this winter.

Detroit-area journalists Detroit Free Press and Detroit News wrote, "Heysus is arousing the interest of the Detroit club." In particular, Free Press said, "He is performing more than just a minor league contract player," adding, "He proved his crisis management ability by going head-to-head against the strong line." According to the reports, he will join the Venezuelan national team of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in March after taking the mound for another exhibition game.

In particular, the fact that Heyesus is a left-hander who can play both the starter and the bullpen is a great attraction to the management of the Detroit pitching staff. The Athletic, an American sports media outlet, also predicted Heyesus' entry into the bullpen roster.

Heyesus was a respectable left-hander who played on the Korean stage in the 2024 and 2025 seasons. After leaving a record of 13-11 with a 3.68 ERA in 30 games as a member of the Kiwoom Heroes in the 2024 season, he moved to KT Wiz and recorded a not bad performance of 9-9 with a 3.96 ERA in 32 games. However, he failed to renew his contract after the end of the season and left the Korean stage and signed a minor league contract with Detroit.

Heysus is trying again to the best stage in the world using his experience in the KBO league. I wonder if Heyesus, who only played in two major league games for the Miami Marlins in the 2023 season, can write the "myth" of entering the opening roster using his performance in the WBC.

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*This content was translated by AI.