Hanwha Eagles starter Ryan Weiss pitches against the Doosan Bears during a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in the central city of Daejeon on June 25, 2024, in this photo provided by the Eagles. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jul. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — For Hanwha Eagles starting pitcher Ryan Weiss, uncertainty has been a running theme throughout his career.
The 27-year-old American pitcher has spent his professional career in the U.S. minor leagues, in Taiwan and in independent ball in his native country. Weiss added South Korea to the list of his career stops when he signed a short-term deal with the Eagles on June 17.
Weiss only signed for six weeks for US$100,000 as a temporary injury replacement for Ricardo Sanchez. Starting this year, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) is allowing teams to sign foreign players on these short-term contracts to replace incumbent players out with injuries that require at least six weeks of recovery.
Once Sanchez is healthy enough to return, the Eagles will have to make a choice — either retain Weiss and cut Sanchez or reinstate Sanchez from the injured list and let their deal with Weiss expire.
Despite such uncertainty on the horizon, Weiss chose to take his talent to South Korea because he is no stranger to these situations.
“Honestly, there’s been a lot of uncertainty with me throughout my whole life,” Weiss told Yonhap News Agency on Thursday before the Eagles faced the Kiwoom Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. “So I would say this is kind of a situation that I’m, I wouldn’t say comfortable in, but it’s not uncommon for me to be in a situation where you kind of have to bet on yourself and live in the present, and then whatever happens thereafter is going to happen.”
Hanwha Eagles pitcher Ryan Weiss poses for a photo after an interview with Yonhap News Agency before a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game against the Kiwoom Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on July 11, 2024. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
A man of faith, Weiss said he believes God has plans for him and that “It’s going to be what it’s going to be.
“I just have to go out there, and I try to do my best,” he said. “Obviously, I want to do well because it’s not fun when you don’t do well.”
Weiss has made three starts so far, and he seems determined to make the choice a tough one for the Eagles. He is 1-0 with a 1.89 ERA. He has 18 strikeouts against six walks in 19 innings.
Meanwhile, Sanchez was 2-3 with a 4.22 ERA in 11 starts before hitting the sidelines with an elbow injury.
With the clock ticking down on his tenure in the KBO, Weiss said he’s trying not to get too far ahead of himself.
“Hopefully, I can stay here, and I can just prove that I belong here. That’s all that’s really in my control,” Weiss said. “Just trying to stay in the moment. At the end of the day, I care about winning. I’m sure many people have seen that the way I pitch, that’s the thing that I care about. I want to win, and I know that winning baseball games helps the team in a lot of different ways, and it helps the clubhouse dynamic. And so that’s what I care about.”
Hanwha Eagles starter Ryan Weiss pitches against the Kiwoom Heroes during a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on July 9, 2024, in this photo provided by the Eagles. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
After starting the 2023 season in Triple-A for the Kansas City Royals, Weiss landed with the Fubon Guardians in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) in Taiwan for the latter part of the year. And he made his short stay count, going 4-1 with a 2.90 ERA in five starts.
“It was my first experience trying to face Asian-style hitting from one through nine,” Weiss said. “So I think that really prepared me for coming here.”
He admitted he didn’t know all that much about the KBO before arriving here — just that foreign pitchers were expected to go deep into games.
Hanwha Eagles starter Ryan Weiss (C) poses in the stands in front of fans after pitching against the Doosan Bears in a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in the central city of Daejeon on June 25, 2024, in this photo provided by the Eagles. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
Weiss has done exactly that by going at least six innings in all three starts. But the pitcher said it hasn’t been easy, though his numbers may tell a different story.
“The hitters are hard to get out. That’s for sure,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s baseball, so you’ve got to get ahead, and you have to be in the strike zone in order to have success.
“I guess I’m pretty blessed that Choi has been catching me the last couple of games, and he’s had a pretty good game plan,” Weiss said of catcher Choi Jae-hoon. “So I’ve just trusted him, and it’s worked.”
And by living and playing overseas in recent months, Weiss said he has learned to be “less dependent upon other people.” Instead of leaning on his interpreter on off days, he has been trying to find things to do that he can enjoy on his own.
On the field, the language barrier hasn’t been much of an issue.
“Baseball is baseball. So there’s kind of an unspoken language with baseball that I’m able to connect with all the guys on the team that don’t speak English,” he said. “So that’s pretty cool.”
And no matter where he plays, Weiss said he is counting his blessings.
“When I was younger, I never really expected to be playing baseball for as long as I am right now,” he said with a smile. “I’m just grateful that I’m still able to play, and I’ll play as long as I can, as long as I’m having fun.”
(Yonhap)
