O’Gredi recommended by Ha-seong Kim “I will overturn the last-place prediction”
Team change and synergy expected by new general manager Son Hyuk
Can Brian O’Grady (30), a new foreign hitter for the professional baseball Hanwha Eagles, change the atmosphere of Hanwha, which hovers at the bottom of the league every year?
O’Gredi played with Kim Ha-seong (28) for the San Diego Padres of the American Professional Baseball (MLB) two years ago. The recommendation of former colleague Kim Ha-seong also influenced the process of Hanwha recruiting O’Grady, who played in Japan last year.
Kim Ha-seong recommended to Hanwha, “O’Grady has good power, is sincere outside of the game, and has a good professional mindset.” So, in December of last year, O’Grady signed an annual salary of 700,000 dollars and an incentive of 200,000 dollars (a total of 1.12 billion won) with Hanwha and wore an eagle uniform.
From 2019, he went through the Cincinnati Reds, Tampa Bay Rays, and San Diego, and recorded a batting average of 0.184, 4 homers, and 12 RBIs in 62 MLB games. His career minor league results were decent, with a batting average of .256, 91 home runs, and 345 RBIs in 658 games. Oh Grady expressed his ambition to overturn people’s expectations of Hanwha, although he felt burdened as a former big leaguer.
O’Gredi confessed, “Baseball always has to fight pressure, and as an American in Korea, there is another pressure I feel,” but I could feel confidence in the upcoming season from him.
He said, “It’s really cool to see a team that everyone thought they couldn’t win and defy people’s expectations,” he said.
“As a leader, I will pass on my experience to my teammates and help them play the game right and play hard,” he said. “Of course it won’t be easy, but things change quickly in baseball. I hope this year will be the first year to win many games.” 안전놀이터
O’Grady also mentioned that Japan’s Seibu Lions, which he joined last year, were last in the Pacific League in the 2021 season. In the 2022 season when he joined, he rebounded to third place. He said, “The team was in last place in 2021, but last year it showed a different look and produced good results,” he said. “I will show my play on the ground without worrying about grades.”
He said, “I heard that there are many young players who grow while gaining experience in Hanwha, and I heard that a good hitter (Chae Eun-seong) also signed a free agent contract.” told
Last year, he posted a batting average of 0.213, 15 homers and 46 RBIs in Seibu, Japan, and expected that he would adapt better in Korea, his second foreign country. O’Grady, who analyzed that “the pitching styles of Korean baseball and Japanese baseball are similar,” said, “I have been separated from my family in Japan, but this year my family will come to Korea for a while. I was able to greatly relieve the burden on my heart.”
O’Grady is determined, but Hanwha has been at the bottom of the league for the past three years. The team is being reorganized after the inauguration of general manager Son Hyuk last year, but there are many prospects that Hanwha will finish last this season as well.
Hanwha recruited an outside free agent (outfielder Chae Eun-seong) for the first time in 7 years in this Stove League. In addition, Lee Tae-yang (pitcher) and Oh Seon-jin (infielder) were brought in one after another to strengthen their power.