By Moon Gwang-lip
Staff Reporter
Their numbers dropped by five, but imports are still expected to have a big influence on the Korea Baseball Organization's (KBO) league for the 2007 season.
Eleven out of the 16 foreign players on eight KBO teams this year, are pitchers _ most of them no.1 or no.2 starters.
Last year, migrant pitchers delivered 1,291 innings combined, accounting for as much as 14.4 percent of the total innings pitched. The average ERA they posted was 3.10, lower than 3.58 by Korean pitchers.
Less impressive, but significant nonetheless the foreign sluggers also claimed an upper edge, recording hitting average of .261, slightly higher than that of local hitters.
The phenomenon of foreign domination is now being led by Kenny Rayborn, a star pitcher from rising Taiwanese baseball.
SK Wyverns
Rayborn impressed Wyverns manager Kim Seong-keun with his performance at last year's Konami Cup, where he pitched for Taiwan's La New Bears.
In the second four-team Asian tournament in Japan, the American pitcher held in check the 2006 Japan series champion Nippon Ham Fighters. He posted 16 victories against five losses and a 1.94 ERA, as the Bears cruised to win the Taiwanese league last season.
The 191-centimeter pitcher delivers at up to 150 kilometers per hour (kmph). Stable ball control as well as a changeup and a curve are other specialties of the 32-year-old former Boston Red Sox.
His 188-centimeter teammate Michael Romano will add to the pitching power of the sixth placed team in 2006.
Romano, 35, came from Japan, where he went 5-9 with a 5.64 ERA for the Hiroshima Carp last season. Kim, a former coach for Japan's Lotte Marines until last year, brought him to make use of his enriched experiences with the Major League teams including the Toronto Blue Jays.
Samsung Lions
Jamie Brown will play for the second year with Samsung Lions to help defend the Korean Series title.
His pitching speed is short of overpowering sluggers, but with an unpredictable combination of changers _ curves, sliders and sinkers _ the American pitcher is not easy to deal with. He delivered for 11 victories against nine losses last season, recording a 2.68 ERA.
Kris Wilson, another American pitcher Samsung brought for the season, will show what he learned with the New York Yankees last season.
Wilson, starting a Major League career with Kansas City Royals in 2000, pitched only 8.1 innings in five games with the Yankees, but his tricky balls got six batters to strikeouts.
In the triple-A matches in 2006, the 193-centimeter pitcher also displayed first-rate ball control, going 9-6 with a 3.40 ERA.
Hanwha Eagles