San Diego Padres pitcher Go Woo-suk returns to the dugout after a workout at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on March 19, 2024, the eve of the Padres’ game against the Los Angeles Dodgers to open the 2024 Major League Baseball season. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Mar. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — Go Woo-suk, the South Korean pitcher for the San Diego Padres, failed to make the club’s Opening Day roster for games this week in his native Seoul.
The Padres on Wednesday finalized their 26-man roster for the two-game Seoul Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers without their South Korean reliever. The first game is 7:05 p.m. Wednesday at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, followed by another starting at 7:05 p.m. Thursday at Gocheok. Wednesday’s game will be the very first Major League Baseball (MLB) game played in South Korea.
Go, however, will not have a chance to showcase his talent in front of South Korean fans, as the Padres optioned the 25-year-old right-hander to Triple-A El-Paso.
The decision leaves shortstop Kim Ha-seong as the only South Korean for the Padres in the historic series.
Go had been part of the team’s 31-man traveling squad to Seoul. He signed a two-year contract with the Padres in January, after recording 139 saves during the 2019-2023 period for the LG Twins to lead all closers in the Korea Baseball Organization.
In five spring training outings as a Padre, though, Go had a 12.46 ERA. He also made an appearance against the Twins in an exhibition game on Monday in Seoul, and served up a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning before closing out a 5-4 victory.
In a conversation with Yonhap News Agency on Tuesday,Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla said the team would be patient with Go as he tries to find his footing in the majors. Niebla noted that Go had a shorter offseason than anybody on the Padres, since his KBO season with the Twins ended in mid-November after they won the Korean Series and Go had to travel between South Korea and the United States multiple times to finalize his deal.
The Padres will start Yu Darvish on Wednesday evening, against Tyler Glasnow of the Dodgers.
(Yonhap)
