Nexen's Rottino makes historic KBO catching debut

Vinny Rottino, a new offseason acquisition for the Nexen Heroes in the Korea Baseball Organization(KBO), made history on Thursday in just his ninth appearance in South Korea.

He was the starting catcher against the Kia Tigers. With Andy Van Hekken on the mound, the two Americans became the first foreign battery to play in a KBO game in the league's 32-year history.

Rottino, after playing outfield in earlier games, was also the first foreign catcher in the KBO since Angel Pena for the Hanwha Eagles on April 24, 2004.

The 34-year-old, who has caught 305 games in the minors and three in the majors, didn't look too out of place behind the plate, as the Heroes defeated the Tigers 5-2. Van Hekken tossed seven shutout innings with six hits and four strikeouts to improve to 2-1 with a 1.96 ERA.

Rottino did give up a couple of steals and threw the ball into the left field when trying to nab Kim Sun-bin stealing third.

Kim sprinted home, but Rottino caught left fielder Moon U-ram's throw and tagged out the runner at home.

Batting ninth, Rottino went 2-for-3 at the plate, and You Jae-sin pinch-ran for him in the seventh. Heo Do-hwan, the usual starting catcher, got behind the plate starting in the eighth.

Starting in 2014, KBO teams can sign up to three foreign players -- the quota is four for the expansion NC Dinos -- and at least one of them must be a position player. Over the offseason, teams went after players with some Major League Baseball (MLB) experience, and players like Luke Scott of the SK Wyverns and Jorge Cantu of the Doosan Bears have arrived with more than 100 big league homers.

The Heroes' signing of Rottino raised a few eyebrows. One of the more underwhelming names to arrive here for this season, Rottino, has played 10 seasons in the minors but only 62 games in the majors, with a meager .165 batting average in 97 at-bats.

The Heroes, already stacked with South Korean power bats in their lineup, said they liked Rottino's versatility, and hinted that he could even play behind the plate when necessary.

It came earlier than even the Heroes' brass had expected.

The Heroes' two regular catchers are Heo Do-hwan and Park Dong-won. Heo had started the first eight games of the season before coming down with back pains, and Park had handled the catching duties on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Manager Yeom Kyung-yup had planned to assign Rottino to the team's minor league affiliate in the Futures League to do some catching work there, before recalling him to the big club. Yeom had also wanted to recall outfielder Kang Ji-kwang, who enjoyed an excellent preseason, to take Rottino's spot on the Heroes' active roster.

Yet Kang recently suffered a finger injury, forcing Yeom to keep Rottino on the roster as another option behind the plate.

After the victory, Rottino gave all the credit to Van Hekken.

"Andy really did the job," Rottino said. "He called the pitches that he wanted to call. He kept them off balance."

Rottino last caught an MLB game in 2012 with the Cleveland Indians. In the minors, the last time he was behind the plate was also in 2012 with the Buffalo Bisons, a Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets.

For the better part of the past three years, Rottino had played outfield. Nonetheless, he said he felt "pretty good" catching his first KBO game.

"Once you get back there, it's the same," he said. "It's just about knowing the pitchers and knowing the hitters. The signs were a little different. That was the biggest adjustment."

Rottino has also picked things up at the plate. He went 2-for-16 in his first six games, but has gone 7-for-11 in his last three.

"Early on, I had a couple of bad games, and being out in spring training (with a hamstring injury) didn't help me because I didn't get regular at-bats," he said. "Now I feel very good at the plate. My timing is very good. I feel like my swing is good."

Working with a pitcher who spoke English likely made things easier for Rottino. Whether he'd be willing to catch a South Korean teammate, Rottino said, "Whatever the team wants me to do to help the team win, I will do it." (Yonhap)