Padres manager makes ‘tough decision’ on Go Woo-suk
San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt said Wednesday he believes minor league-bound Korean pitcher Go Woo-suk will help the big league club at some point in 2024.
The Padres has begun the 2024 Major League Baseball (MLB) regular season with two-day Seoul Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul.
Go, however, will not have a chance to pitch in front of his hometown fans, as the Padres optioned him to Triple-A El Paso hours before the Wednesday game. The Padres brought a 31-man traveling roster to Seoul but cut five players before the game.
Shildt said it was “a tough decision, clearly” to inform Go that he wouldn’t be with the big league team this week.
“He took it very professionally,” Shildt said at his pregame press conference.
“Ultimately, it came down to a couple of things. We’ve got some depth
in our bullpen. That was a big part of the decision. And him getting a little bit of a later start to his offseason, relative to being able to go pitch in the regular season over here, just didn’t allow him to get built up maybe as quickly as some of the other guys in the camp.”
Go signed his two-year deal with the Padres in January. But he’d
pitched into mid-November, as his former Korea Baseball Organization team, LG Twins, won the Korean Series title.
Shildt said Go had been honest about his short offseason when speaking with him and the Padres’ general manager, A.J. Preller.
Demotion on Wednesday also doesn’t mean the Padres are losing faith in Go, Shildt said.
“We are confident that he’s going to help us at some point in the season,” the manager said. “He has made really nice adjustments as the spring has gone not only with the new baseball, the competition, the culture, everything. He has done a really nice job.”
As for his message to the pitcher, Shildt said, “Just continue to progress, continue to work on the shape of your pitches, continue to work on getting your command and your pitches working together. Do that and you’ll be back.”
Shildt, who had previously managed the St. Louis Cardinals, will make his Padres managerial debut in Seoul later Wednesday.
“This is the stuff dreams are made of, right? You grow up and never imagine this being an opportunity for you,” Shildt said. “And I’m really excited about it and I’m really grateful as I’ve said multiple times and will continue to say about my opportunity to manage this club.”