A pitcher in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization is embarking on a new adventure in South Korea. Cam Alldred, who was pitching for the Pittsburgh’s Triple-A affiliate, the Indianapolis Indians, is signing with the Kia Tigers of the Korean Baseball Organization.
Indianapolis officially announced his send-off a few hours ago.
Alldred, 27, was a 24th round draft pick by the Pirates back in 2018 out of the University of Cincinnati, which is about a half an hour away from his hometown of Batavia, Ohio.
The Tigers signed Alldred to a $325,000 contract, which includes a $25,000 signing bonus to jump ship from North America to Korea. Alldred will be filling in, temporarily at least, for another former Pirate in Wil Crowe.
Crowe, who pitched for the Pirates from 2021 to 2023, was released by the team at the end of last year after spending considerable time on the Injured List and a subsequent designation for assignment.
As a free agent, Crowe signed with the Tigers and went 5-1 with a 3.57 ERA for the Tigers before going down.
Crowe reportedly experienced elbow pains after a bullpen session on May 8th before undergoing multiple tests that revealed partial damage in the ulnar collateral ligament. He flew to the United States on May 14th to receive a second opinion on his UCL.
The Tigers have since asked the KBO to place Crowe on the newly created rehab list, which will allow the team to replace Crowe, a foreign player in the league, without losing one of their replacement slots.
The KBO restricts the amount of foreign players that any team can have. The limit it set at three (and only a maximum of two can be pitchers), but a new aimed at aiding teams in replacing foreign-player injuries allows temporary replacements.
Once a player is placed on the newly created rehab list (which the Tigers have moved to place Crowe on), that player cannot return for at least six weeks, and once the injured player does return, the replacement player must be replaced or outright placed on waivers.
Temporary replacement players also cannot be paid more than $100,000 per month in their contracts.
Alldred spent seven years in the Pirates organization, pitching just one game for the major league team back in 2022. On May 12th, 2022, he pitched a scoreless inning, recording his first (and only) major league strikeout.
The organization tried to move Alldred from the bullpen to the starting rotation. Last season, the lefty appeared in 31 games, starting 17 of them to a 5.45 ERA.
This season, spent entirely in Triple-A with the Indians, Alldred started all 9 games he appeared in, going 1-3 with a 6.88 ERA for Indianapolis. His 1.67 WHIP to open this year was his highest figure since his Single-A days with West Virginia back in 2018.
Alldred joins a Tigers team that currently leads the entire KBO with a record of 32-20-1, and the league’s most elite pitching rotation, with a league-leading 3.50 ERA among starters.
He is expected to arrive in South Korea and join the team on Friday.
(Featured photo from the Indianapolis Indians)
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