[Official] KIA makes sudden announcement: 'Shocking hamstring injury sidelining Castro' — signs power hitter Aderlin Rodriguez, who hit 215 home runs in the minor leagues, as Castro's replacement foreign batter

*This content was translated by AI.

KIA Tigers has signed a replacement foreign player for Harold Castro, who recently suffered a hamstring injury and was sidelined. The player is Aderlin Rodriguez (35), who has hit 215 home runs exclusively in the U.S. minor leagues.

On the 4th, KIA officially announced, "We have signed Aderlin Rodriguez as a replacement foreign batter for Castro."

KIA explained, "On this day, we signed a contract with Aderlin Rodriguez (Aderlin Rodriguez, right-handed pitcher and right-handed batter, born in 1991) for a duration of six weeks with an annual salary of $50,000."

Earlier, on the 30th of last month, Francis Romero, a reporter for the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), shared on his social media, "According to sources, Rodriguez has signed a contract with the KIA club of the Korean KBO League. Rodriguez played for the Toros de Tijuana in the Mexican League and nearly made it to the major league multiple times."

Aderlin, originally from the Dominican Republic, is a right-handed batter and right-handed infielder with a physique of 190cm in height and 95kg in weight.

Aderlin has experience playing in the U.S. minor leagues and the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league, and recently has been active mainly in the Mexican League.

He began his professional career with the New York Mets in 2009 and continued his career with the Seattle Mariners, Baltimore Orioles, San Diego Padres, Detroit Tigers, and others.

In total across the minor leagues, he recorded 1,219 games, a batting average of 0.271 (4,619 at-bats, 1,254 hits), 215 home runs, 840 RBIs, 322 walks, 998 strikeouts, an on-base percentage of 0.325, a slugging percentage of 0.476, and an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 0.801.

At the Triple-A level in the minor leagues, over three seasons, he played in 236 games, recording 258 hits, 60 home runs, 204 RBIs, 149 runs scored, a batting average of 0.296, and an OPS of 0.939. However, he never made it to the major league stage.

In NPB, over two seasons, he appeared in 83 games, recording 52 hits, 8 home runs, 34 RBIs, 16 runs scored, a batting average of 0.202, and an OPS of 0.606.

Last year in the Mexican League, he played in a total of 134 games, leaving a record of 168 hits, 42 home runs, 125 RBIs, 103 runs scored, a batting average of 0.323, and an OPS of 0.966.

Regarding Aderlin, KIA explained, "He is a batter with rich experience accumulated across various leagues and a strong power-hitting ability."

A KIA official stated, "Aderlin is a player with an exceptional ability to generate powerful hits, and we expect him to play a key role in the heart of the lineup during Castro's injury absence."

Earlier, on the 25th of last month, Castro suffered a left hamstring injury while fielding during a regular-season home game against the Lotte Giants at Gwangju-KIA Champions Field, forcing him to leave the lineup. Castro had played in 23 games this season, recording a batting average of 0.250 (88 at-bats, 22 hits), 2 home runs, 16 RBIs, and an OPS of 0.700.

Meanwhile, Aderlin is scheduled to join the team on the 5th.

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.