This photo provided by the Kia Tigers on Aug. 28, 2024, shows the club’s new pitcher, Eric Stout. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — The Kia Tigers announced Wednesday they have signed former major league pitcher Eric Stout as a temporary replacement for their injured ace James Naile.
The Tigers said Stout, who has 23 games of big league experience, agreed to a US$45,000 contract for the rest of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular season. The 31-year-old American arrived in South Korea on Tuesday night, the Tigers added.
Stout will take the place in the rotation vacated by Naile, who is out for the remainder of the regular season witha broken jaw. Naile suffered the injury after getting struck by a line drive during Saturday’s game against the NC Dinos and underwent surgery the following day.
Because Stout signed after Aug. 15, he will not be eligible for postseason play. The Tigers are in first place at 72-48-2 (wins-losses-ties) with 22 games remaining. Holding a 5.5-game lead over the Samsung Lions, the Tigers are trying to earn a bye to the Korean Series, which will earn them about three weeks of break after the end of the regular season and give Naile extra time to heal.
Stout didn’t have a win-loss record in the majors after pitching for the Kansas City Royals, the Chicago Cubs and the Pittsburgh Pirates. In six Triple-A seasons, Stout went 16-12 with a 4.63 ERA in 158 outings, including 21 starts.
The left-hander had been pitching for the CTBC Brothers in Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) since 2023 before joining the Tigers. He compiled a 16-10 record with a 2.96 ERA in 32 games in the CPBL.
Beginning this season, KBO teams are allowed to sign temporary replacements for injured foreign players. The Tigers previously used that rule when they signed pitcher Cam Alldred to fill in for Wil Crowe. Alldred was later replaced by Eric Lauer.
(Yonhap)
