The SoftBank Hawks have released five foreign players

The SoftBank Hawks have released five foreign players at once. Pitcher Joe Gunkel, infielders Freddy Galviles and Willians Astudillo, and outfielders Courtney Hawkins and Alfred Despaigne were announced as leaving the team on Monday. All of them were scarred by their worst performances of the season.

Right-hander Gunkel was released after three years with the Hanshin Tigers. He started with a salary of 55 million yen in his first year in 2020, earned 170 million yen last year and 160 million yen this year from SoftBank. He’s living the Japan Dream.

His fourth season in Nippon Professional Baseball ended in disaster. One loss in five games, a 5.82 ERA, and a foreign pitcher who was expected to be a mainstay in the rotation lasted just 17 innings.

Gunkel, who was promoted to the first team in May, appeared as a middle reliever in an interleague game against his former team Hanshin on June 17. He pitched ⅓ of an inning in that game before being removed from the first team. 카지노사이트넷 After posting a 2.73 ERA in 16 games last year, his numbers have plummeted in a year.

The story was similar for the four foreign hitters.

None struggled more than Brian O’Grady, the Hanwha Eagles’ only foreign hitter this season. The four have hit a surprising one home run. It was hit by Astudillo in July.

In 20 games, Astudillo is 1-for-3 with six doubles, one home run and three RBIs, while Galviles is 1-for-5 with five doubles and one RBI in 19 games. Astudillo earned 180 million yen in salary this year, while Galvis earned 340 million yen.

Hawkins, who was recalled from the American Independent League, appeared in three games. He made his first appearance on August 30 against the Orix Buffaloes. In nine at-bats this season, he has one hit, one RBI, and four strikeouts. His salary this year is 66 million yen.

Despine, a former Cuban national team player, spent eight years in Japan until last year. He played for the Chiba Lotte Marines and then SoftBank, where he thrived as a leadoff hitter. In 2017, his first year in Japan, he led the Pacific League in home runs.

In the last few years, he has been on a downward spiral and was not re-signed. However, with foreign hitters struggling, SoftBank called him back. They signed him in June for an annual salary of 186 million yen.

But nothing miraculous happened.

In 20 games, Despaigne went 7-for-1 with no home runs and three doubles. It’s a far cry from his reputation.

The combined salary of the four batters is 782 million yen, or about $6.9 billion. Between them, they had 14 hits, one home run, and five RBIs.

SoftBank is a “big dog” that tries to win every year. Each year, the team has invested heavily to bolster its lineup. Last season, they signed free agent outfielder Gensuke Kondo for seven years and 5 billion yen, former Major League Baseball reliever Roberto Osuna for 650 million yen, and brought back Kohei Aihara from the United States for three years and 1.2 billion yen.

Despite these investments, 온라인카지노사이 the team finished third in the regular season this year behind the Orix and Chiba Lotte. They failed to qualify for the Japan Series for the third consecutive year.