“SSG Landers was the first team to make an offer. They were very aggressive.”
SSG Landers’ new foreign pitcher, Robert Dugger, is set to make his first professional start. Dugger will take the mound against the Weichuan Dragons in a scrimmage at the Doryu Stadium in Taiwan on March 3. It will be Dugger’s first time pitching against another team since his first start against the Red and White. Duggar will throw around 50 pitches to get a feel for the game.
Dugger has been with the team since the first camp in Vero Beach, Florida, and has consistently shown good pace. From the first bullpen pitch, he has been in good shape, posting a fastball top velocity of 151.1 kilometers and an average velocity of 148.2 kilometers, and he also checked various things in a one-day bullpen pitch at the second camp in Taiwan. An SSG team official said, “So far, Dugger’s preparation is going as well as we expected. He is the best pitcher in the game. It’s what we expected.”
Dugger is not a pitcher who has had a flashy big league career.
After making his big league debut with the Miami Marlins in 2019, he went 0-7 with a 7.17 ERA in 27 career big league games (13 starts) through the 2022 season. It was more of a stopgap start, but what was impressive was his performance last season. Duggar played for the Round Rock Express, the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. He didn’t get a big league call-up, but he was a steady starter in the Triple-A rotation.
The Triple-A Pacific Coast League, of which Round Rock is a member, is notorious for its high level of ride-and-throwers. This was especially true last season. 스포츠토토 The Pacific Coast League had two teams that hit over 200 home runs in 148-150 games, and most of them hit between 180 and 190. The league average OPS was over 8%.
Unsurprisingly, pitchers were the worst performers. The average Pacific Coast League pitcher has a 5.69 ERA. Duggar’s team, Round Rock, had a team ERA of 4.72, which was the second-lowest ERA in the league.
Even amongst this pitching staff, Duggar’s numbers stood out the most.
His Triple-A season was a 7-10 record with a 4.31 ERA. While that may not sound like much, his 4.31 ERA was the lowest of any pitcher in regulation innings pitched. Couple that with his 143 strikeouts, and he was also first in the league. Duggar took home the strikeout leader and ERA leader titles at the extreme Tiger Tosser level.
“Last year’s performance was better than I thought it would be,” Duggar said after his bullpen session at Jai Stadium. I focused on showing what I was throwing, and I think it came out better. I think the year I spent in Triple-A last year was a year where I was able to find out what kind of pitcher I am. Most importantly, I was able to establish myself as a starter and get into a consistent rotation and routine,” he reflected.
He has also adapted quickly to his new team. Kim Kwang-hyun, who understands the mindset of foreign players, said of Dugger: “He seems to be a nice guy and a good friend. He’s trying to adapt quickly, and he’s getting along well with the players. He’s a good player.” “At first, I thought it would be very serious, but the players joke around a lot and it’s nice to have a relaxed atmosphere,” Dugger said, adding, “Guillermo Heredia and Roenis Elias are the kind of players who actively lead the team, so I think I adapted a little faster.”
Heredia and Elias have been playing in Korea since last year and have the same Cuban background.
Dugger, on the other hand, is from Arizona, USA. But he quickly merged with the energetic and active Heredia and Elias. The foreign athletes also bonded over meals together. “I understand quite a bit of Spanish,” says Dugger. I can speak some. And now I’m learning a lot of Korean through translation apps. I’m pretty much speaking Korean and Spanish a day now,” he says. He joked that the only people he actually speaks to in English are his dedicated translators.
For Dugger, joining the KBO is a new challenge. “I was interested in overseas leagues, including Korea and Japan, but SSG was the first to offer me. They were very aggressive with their offer, so it felt good. I was able to convince my family to come here. The KBO is very competitive, and I know it’s about the same as the Triple-A level in the U.S.,” he said, adding, “My goal is to be healthy before the start of the season and keep doing what I’ve been doing.”
Duggar will be joining his wife and 2-year-old daughter in Korea. The second act of his baseball career has begun.