Ex-KBO ace Rucinski hoping to script back-to-MLB success story
SEOUL– By finalizing his one-year deal with the Oakland Athletics this week, former NC Dinos ace Drew Rucinski joined a growing list of South Korean league stars that have paved a path back to the majors.
The 33-year-old right-hander signed a one-year deal for 2023 with a club option for 2024. He spent the past four seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), going 53-36 with a 3.06 ERA in 121 starts for the Dinos. He logged 732 2/3 innings and struck out 657.
In that 2019-2022 period, Rucinski ranks first overall in innings and strikeouts, second in wins and third in ERA.
A key member of the Dinos’ 2020 Korean Series championship team, Rucinski will get to test himself in the big leagues once again and see if his success as a starter in Korea will translate to a spot in the A’s rotation. He previously pitched for the Los Angeles Angels from 2014 to 2015, and the Miami Marlins from 2017 to 2018, but only one of his 41 appearances came in a start.
Before Rucinski, a handful of players returned to the majors after reinventing themselves in the KBO.
One notable case was former Dinos slugger Eric Thames. He won the KBO regular season MVP award in 2015, when he became the first KBO player with a 40-40 season, and then belted out 31 home runs for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2017, his first season back in the majors since 2012.
Former Samsung Lions first baseman Darin Ruf led the KBO with 124 RBIs in 2017, his first season in Korea following five years in the majors. After two more highly productive seasons here, Ruf found himself back in the majors by 2020 with the San Francisco Giants. Though he didn’t put up quite the numbers that Thames did, Ruf has been a solid contributor well into his 30s.
On the pitching front, former Lotte Giants starter Brooks Raley has carved out a niche as an above-average reliever in the bigs. The left-hander began his big league career with the Chicago Cubs in 2012 and pitched in the KBO from 2015 to 2019. Raley has appeared in 15 postseason games for the Houston Astros and the Tampa Bay Rays since returning to the majors in 2020, including four appearances in the 2021 World Series. The 34-year-old was traded to the New York Mets earlier this month.
Chris Flexen has been a rare case, in that he only needed one KBO season — a pretty good one, at that — before earning his second tour of duty in the majors. He was a Met from 2017 to 2019, and after pitching to a 3.01 ERA with 132 strikeouts in 116 2/3 innings for the Doosan Bears in 2020, Flexen signed with the Mariners before the 2021 season.
The tall right-hander immediately put together his best season in the bigs, going 14-6 with a 3.61 ERA in 31 starts. He then split his time between the rotation and the bullpen in 2022.
Another unusual case has been Merrill Kelly, who had never played in the majors before signing with the SK Wyverns (now SSG Landers) before the 2015 season. He pitched four seasons in the KBO, going 48-32 with a 3.86 ERA.
Kelly then made his major league debut at age 30 for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2019. He enjoyed his best season in 2022, with a 13-8 record and a 3.37 ERA in a major league-high 33 starts. Kelly also topped 200 innings for the first time in his career this year.
Rucinski, who munched big innings in the KBO, will be targeting those numbers himself in 2023.
“I’ve adapted to the workload the past four years in Korea,” Rucinski told MLB.com. “I’ve eaten over 175 innings every season, and I absolutely would love to be a starter here. I like sticking with that routine as a starter. I’ll obviously do whatever the team asks of me, but my goal is to be in that rotation.”
Rucinski said his “unique” experience in the KBO has taught him how to stay self-motivated and to challenge himself to get better.
“Just everything has gotten a little sharper and cleaner. I definitely feel like I’ve become a more consistent pitcher,” he said. “I just feel like I’m a more mature, rounded pitcher who can handle that workload.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency