Oh yes: Jays fortify bullpen
Ex-Cards, Korean and Japanese league reliever signs deal
DU N EDI N, FLA. • The Toronto Blue Jays have picked up a Stone Buddha.
Not as a spiritual idol, but to use in late-inning relief this season.
Sources report that the Jays and right- handed reliever Seunghwan Oh have reached a deal. The agreement was pending a physical, which Oh reportedly passed on Monday. Known as Stone Buddha (“Dol- bucheo” in Korean) for his calmness in every situation, Oh is one of the best closers in the history of Korean baseball. Still, he likely won’t challenge Roberto Osuna for the closer duties. More likely, Oh, who pitched for the St. Louis last season, will serve as Osuna’s setup man.
Oh, a member of the Cardinals’ bullpen the last two seasons, posted an ERA of 1.92 in 79.2 innings in 2016, but it jumped to 4.10 last season. The 35- year- old has a combined 39 saves over the past two seasons. After an 11- year professional career in Korea and Japan, Oh posted a 1.92 ERA with 103 strikeouts and 18 walks in 2016.
Earlier in the off- season, Oh reportedly had a deal with the Texas Rangers, but it was called off prior to becoming official due to concerns stemming from an MRI. Oh played for Korea in the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and 2009 and at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
A right- handed pitcher, Oh stands 5- foot-10 and weighs 205 pounds. His primary pitches include a four- seam fastball — averaging 92— 93 miles per hour and topping out at 96 — and a mid- 80s slider with a darting motion resembling a cutter.
He was suspended by the KBO League in Korea for six months after it was found he and another player had gone to a casino in Macau. South Korean law bans its citizens from going to casinos outside the country. Oh’s team at the time, the Hanshin Tigers, terminated his contract amid reports he was linked to a Korean crime organization.
GAME NUGGETS
Young 6- foot -4 lefty Ryan Borucki started Monday’ s game against the Tampa Bay Rays in Port Charlotte and threw two complete innings, giving up no hits, walking one and striking out one. Borucki, 22, will not likely make the Jays out of camp but is considered to be a prospect close to be promoted to the Major League level. Last season he started a single- A Dunedin and worked his way up double- A New Hampshire and then triple- A Buffalo, finishing with a 2.93 ERA and 157 strikeouts in 150 innings while giving up 36 walks.
Another left-hand er, Matt Dermody, got beat up by the Rays in a 7- 4 Toronto loss. Dermody, 27, gave up five runs on four hits and a walk and took the loss.
Outfielder Anthony Alford slammed a two- run homer off Andrew Kittredge in the fifth inning and his 2017 Buffalo Bisons teammate Dwight Smith Jr. hit one in the ninth off in the ninth off Cody Hall. Shortstop Lourdes Gurriel Jr. went 2-for-3. Blue Jays relievers Dermody, Craig Breslow and William Ouellette all gave up homers in the game.
AROUND THE HORN
Canadian Baseball Network writer Bob Elliott, a former Toronto Sun baseball columnist, reports that Toronto- born RHP Braden Halladay will be on the Canadian junior national team roster at St. Pete’s for a spring trip next month. Elliott said Roy Halladay’s son has verbally committed to Penn State.