“I cried like a baby.”바카라
SSG Landers foreign pitcher Kirk McCarty was removed from the first team ahead of the team’s seventh game of the season against the Samsung Lions at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on April 23. It was a roster move that no one expected.
McCarty, who pitched six innings of two-run ball against the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Stadium on April 22 to lead the team to a three-game midweek sweep, was suddenly cut. It’s the first time an outsider has skipped the starting rotation after leading the SSG lineup so well this year.
Manager Kim Won-hyung said, “He has an inflammation near the forearm of his left arm. It’s not severe, but I had to skip the rotation. We’ll have to wait and see for two or three days,” he said, explaining the reason for his removal from the first team.
According to Kim, the injury is not serious, so it is unlikely that the absence will be long, but McCarty took it quite seriously for a while after the Doosan game when he felt pain in his arm.
An SSG representative said, “I think McCarty himself was the most surprised at the time. He was surprised by the pain and cried a lot. He was worried that he wouldn’t be able to throw in Korea due to the injury.”
However, he quickly brightened up. “After undergoing a medical examination, he was relieved to learn that it was a simple sprain, and then he contacted his conditioning coach, Park Chang-min, and said that he was happy and said, ‘It’s good, it’s very good,'” the SSG official shared.
An SSG representative said, “He is getting along well with his teammates. He feels satisfied with his life in the KBO and seems to like being on our team. I can feel his affection, so I think he was sad for a while because he was worried that he would have to leave due to injury. He has a big heart.”
As usual, McCarty was smiling and greeting his teammates on the day he was dropped from the first team squad.
In 13 games this year, McCarty is 7-3 with a 2.52 ERA. He’s been performing well in part because he’s been able to adapt quickly. When he signed with SSG and began his first camp in Florida, his entire family came to visit.
McCarty’s wife and young daughter traveled with him from Camp 1 in Florida to Camp 2 in Okinawa, Japan, and then to Korea. McCarty’s wife takes their daughter to home and away games to cheer on her husband and enjoy the KBO.
When will McCarty be healthy enough to join the first team again? “It’s not a serious injury,” Kim said, adding that he expects him to be back after one rotation.