San Diego Padres Officially Announce Woo Suk Go
Wednesdays are always a great day for an announcement. GM AJ Preller who is well known for not leaking any intel on deals, trades, contracts and signings early. Shocks everyone with some news. The San Diego Padres officially announce Woo Suk Go, a 5-foot-11, 198 pound reliever from Korea.
The baseball franchise has signed Go to a 2 year contract (with options) worth $4.5 million. Moreover, the ball club wastes no time letting the MLB realm and their fandom know about Woo Suk’s spot on the 24’ roster. The Padres announce in both English as well as Korean,
“Ready. Set. Woo-Suk Go. We have signed right-handed reliever Woo-Suk Go to a two-year contract.”
San Diego Padres Officially Announce Woo Suk Go
So… of course, as all fans wish to know… is this a good signing? To determine that, it’s important to know some history about Go. And English sports writer, Jeeho Yoo, from Seoul has plenty. Yoo reveals,
“With Korean closer Woo-Suk Go nearing a deal with the Padres, gonna throw out some info (maybe useless, maybe not).
Go would become the 1st Korean pitcher to move to MLB through posting since Kwang-Hyun Kim (KK, remember him?) signed with STL Cardinals in Dec. 2019.
Go would also become the 1st Korean reliever to make it to MLB since Seunghwan Oh signed with, yup, St. Louis Cardinals in Jan. 2016. Oh was a free agent then, after 2 seasons with Hanshin Tigers in NPB and 9 seasons with Samsung Lions in KBO.
Go grew up idolizing Oh, who is the all-time saves leader in KBO with 400 and owns single-season record with 47. The two have similar built, similar repertoire (FB-SL), delivery, etc. Go drew a ton of Oh comparisons when he first came up.
[Also] Go got the final 3 outs to lock down the LG Twins’ 1st Korean Series title in 29 years. Moreover, Woo-Suk debuted with the Twins in 2017, and became their closer in 2019. He led all KBO closers with 139 saves and 2.39 ERA in 2019-2023 period. Ranked 2nd with 334 Ks in that span.
Go pairs mid-90s FB with low-90s SL. Throws those two pitches well over 80% of the time. In the KBO, 150 kph (93.2 mph) is the magic number for FB velo. He has been over 150 in each of the past 5 seasons. Converted into mph: 93.8-93.5-95.2-95.4-94.8. Can get it up to 97.6.
[Unfortunately Woo-Suk] had some injury issues in 2023. Made WBC team but didn’t pitch because of neck pain, which later turned out to be shoulder inflammation. Then suffered lower back injury during KBO season. Missed first 17 days of season, and spent almost the entire month of May on IL.
However, of course… Go will be the 2nd Korean player for Padres, joining Gold Glove winner Ha-Seong Kim. 1st pair of Korean pitcher-batter teammates in MLB history, I believe.
Kim and Go will open 2024 season in Seoul vs. Dodgers on March 20-21 (unless Kim is traded!).”
Wook Suk Go and the San Diego Padres
Wow. First of all, thanks again to Jeeho Yoo for his in-depth insights. There’s a lot to unpack there.
Nonetheless, for Padres fans there is one part in particular that may stand out the most. Specifically, Go’s contribution (getting final 3 outs) to helping ‘LG Twins’ get 1st Korean Series title in 29 years.’ This not only shows that Go can pitch in high stress situations, but can be very successful in doing it.
This is of utmost interest to the San Diego organization and fans because they are wanting to finally get the “monkey off their back.” Thus, becoming World Series champions like the Texas Rangers under Bruce Bochy. Assembling the right group of guys is imperative to making that happen. And thus far, it looks like GM AJ Preller is doing a stellar job; despite budget limitations.
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