Odrisamer Despaigne achieves another quality outing in Korea Profile p

May 14, 2020

Cuban pitcher Odrisamer Despaigne achieved his second quality start this Tuesday in the Korean Professional Baseball League (KBO), despite his KT Wiz team squandering a three-run lead and ultimately losing (6-7) to the NC Dinos.

The 33-year-old Despaigne had an erratic beginning, allowing two runs in the first inning of the game, the result of a walk and three hits against him, a situation that continued in the second inning, where he gave up another run and hit a batter.

In the third inning, his pitches began to improve, as did his command of the strike zone and he was able to get through without allowing runs. A source close to the Havana pitcher assured ADN CUBA that he "doesn't feel comfortable pitching with seven days rest and today managed to find his rhythm only after the third inning" due to the prolonged inactivity.

Odrisamer managed to retire consecutively the six batters he faced in the fourth and fifth innings, with excellent control and velocity on his pitches, with which he recorded 3 strikeouts between the two innings.

His outing ended in the fifth inning with a 5-3 score in favor of KT Wiz, with 3 runs allowed, 6 hits, 6 strikeouts, 112 pitches and an ERA of 3.27, but once again his team's bullpen could not complete the victory.

After extending the lead to three runs in the sixth inning, the Dinos came within two runs by the end of the ninth inning, and with two outs and a man on base Na Sung-bum hit a home run to center field that tied the game.

Another home run, this time a solo shot, decided the game in favor of NC Dinos, under the disappointed gaze of Cuban Despaigne from the dugout, as for the second consecutive time the weak Wiz bullpen, which used up to 5 more pitchers, deprived him of his first win of the tournament.

Now the former Industriales and Miami Marlins pitcher, among others, has pitched 11 total innings, in which he has achieved 14 strikeouts and has allowed 10 hits and 4 runs in two quality starts.

Founded in 2015, the franchise where Cuban Despaigne plays is the youngest in the KBO and with its entry the league expanded its schedule from 128 games to a total of 144 regular season games with 10 teams.

KBO rules have allowed, since 2014, the presence of only 3 foreign players per each team, among which this year includes the presence of two Cubans: Despaigne himself and Matanzas native José Miguel Fernández.

The latter, for his part, connected a hit and a double in four at-bats in his Doosan Bears team's victory over Lotte Giants (11-6) and remains as one of the leading hitters in the Korean tournament, which opened its doors to the public last week following restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.