"Stay in place of Shirakawa." Elias, who finally returned, will prove why he was chosen in the match against NC

"Stay in place of Shirakawa." Elias, who finally returned, will prove why he was chosen in the match against NC

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Professional baseball SSG Landers Roenis Elias (36) will return to injury.

SSG announced Elias as a starting pitcher in the "2024 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League" game against the NC Dinos at Changwon NC Park on the 3rd.

Elias is a left-handed foreign pitcher who is in his second year in the KBO League this year. Elias, who joined SSG as a substitute for Eni Romero last season, performed well in 22 games (131 ⅓ innings) with eight wins, six losses and an ERA of 3.70. After the season ended, he successfully renewed his contract for a total of 1 million U.S. dollars.

Elias, who has struggled somewhat with two wins, three losses and an ERA of 4.73 in seven games (40 innings) this season, has been out of power since taking the mound at KIA on the 12th of last month due to a left oblique muscle injury. On the diagnosis that it would take about six weeks to recover, SSG searched for a foreign pitcher to replace Elias' injury and signed a six-week contract with Keisho Shiraka, who was playing in the Japanese independent league, for a total of 1.8 million yen (about 15.46 million won).

Shirakawa recorded two wins, two losses and an ERA of 5.09 in five games (23 innings) while Elias was out due to injury. Although it is not a good performance in terms of figures, except for the loss of seven hits, three walks, one strikeout and eight runs (seven earned runs) in one ⅓ against Lotte on the 7th, he had a good performance with two wins and one loss with an ERA of 2.49 in four games (21 ⅔ innings).

For this reason, SSG is agonizing over Elias and Shirakawa. This is because the advantages and disadvantages of the two pitchers were clear. In the end, however, SSG has decided to continue accompanying Elias, a foreign pitcher. Shirakawa is certainly an attractive pitcher, but he has failed to surpass Elias' experience. "We checked the physical condition and skills of foreign pitcher Roenis Elias through his six-week rehabilitation period and two appearances in 여우알바 Futures League games, and decided that he has become more competitive in strengthening the starting lineup in the second half of the year, including the advantages of left-handed pitchers and abundant starting experience," SSG said.
"I really thought a lot about it until Monday evening yesterday (1st). I thought a lot could change depending on what I decide," SSG coach Lee Soo-yong said in an interview on the 2nd. "It's still important for me from a coach's point of view, but I also have to watch the postseason. I thought about the time when I thought we had to give up on Elias and go to another team. It took that part. If I go to Jamsil again, I will have another good influence. And when I went to the postseason, I thought about whether I could boldly throw Shirakawa in an urgent situation. I will say that I will get better, but since I am a young friend, I decided that it is not easy to overcome at once due to lack of experience."

"From now on, I thought it would be right to go with reason while choosing Elias," coach Lee said. "He also showed some performances in the postseason when he was not sick last year. Healthy Elias is competitive enough," he said. As a starting pitcher in the first round of the semi-playoff last year, Elias pitched eight innings of four hits (one homer) with six strikeouts and two runs, although he became a losing pitcher.

"I wonder if it hurts more. The second half of the year and tomorrow are important. The key player in the second half is Elias no matter what," Lee said, reiterating the importance of Elias' rebound. Clubs and fans are also anxious to see what kind of pitching Elias will make when he returns from injury after being selected instead of Shirakawa.