Landers sign new pitcher Thomas Hatch
Thomas Hatch, former Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher, signs with the SSG Landers in this photo provided by the KBO club, Saturday. Courtesy of SSG Landers
The SSG Landers announced Saturday they have signed former major league pitcher Thomas Hatch.
In corresponding moves, the Landers waived injured starter Mitch White and terminated their deal with White's temporary replacement, Ginjiro Hiramoto.
The Landers said Hatch will earn $590,000 for the rest of this season.
Hatch, 31, was a third-round pick by the Chicago Cubs in the 2016 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft. He made his MLB debut with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2020. In 2022, Hatch was teammates with White and two other current Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) pitchers, Ryu Hyun-jin of the Hanwha Eagles and Jeremy Beasley of the Lotte Giants.
Hatch went on to pitch for three other MLB clubs and last appeared in a big league game in 2025 with the Minnesota Twins.
In 11 games in Triple-A this year for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Hatch has gone 2-0 with a 4.01 ERA in 11 starts while recording 34 strikeouts against 10 walks in 51 2/3 innings.
Hatch, who pitched in Japan in 2024, signed with another KBO club, the Doosan Bears, in November 2024, but the club nixed that deal a month later over a failed physical.
White, a Korean American pitcher, went 1-1 with a 4.11 ERA in six starts this year, his second in the KBO, before hitting the sidelines with a rotator cuff injury. Hiramoto disappointed in his short stint as White's fill-in, going 0-3 with a 9.56 ERA in four starts. He had 18 strikeouts and 14 walks in 16 innings, and was sent down to the minor league last Friday.
Before Saturday's games, the Landers ranked last in the KBO with a 5.39 ERA, and they have also allowed the most home runs with 62 and the most walks with 274 in 57 games.