Landers acquire ex-MLB, NPB pitcher Avila

New SSG Landers pitcher Pedro Avila poses wearing his new Korean club's cap / Courtesy of SSG Landers

The SSG Landers announced their signing of former big league pitcher Pedro Avila on Wednesday.

Avila, 29, will make $380,000 in salary for the rest of this Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season, and earn another $200,000 in incentives.

The Venezuelan right-hander appeared in 72 games for the San Diego Padres and Cleveland Guardians in Major League Baseball from 2019 to 2024. He went 8-4 with a 3.51 ERA, while recording 151 strikeouts against 67 walks in 146 1/3 innings.

Avila then pitched for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in Nippon Professional Baseball in 2025. He had a 7-8 record with a 4.04 ERA in the top Japanese league.

Avila has spent the 2026 season with Cleveland's Triple-A affiliate, the Columbus Clippers, going 3-7 with a 7.50 ERA in 15 outings, including 13 starts.

Across four Triple-A seasons, Avila made 53 starts and 24 relief appearances, with a 12-15 record, a 6.05 ERA and 245 strikeouts in 250 innings.

According to the Landers, Avila can touch 156 kilometers per hour with his four-seam fastball and his arsenal also includes cutter, changeup, curveball and splitter.

The Landers added that Avila is a perfect fit to join their rotation given his experience and his ability to eat up innings.

Avila is replacing Anthony Veneziano, who was released Saturday after going 2-5 with a 6.10 ERA in 16 starts in his first KBO season.

The Landers had signed Veneziano in January after terminating a deal with their initial target, Drew VerHagen, over a failed physical.

However, Veneziano never found his footing in Korea. The left-hander surrendered at least a run in 15 of his 16 outings. He posted a 7.23 ERA in four April starts and then had a 7.31 ERA in five games in June.

Through Tuesday's action, the Landers had the worst team ERA at 5.87. Their pitchers have allowed the most home runs (93) and the most walks (392) in the KBO.

Their other foreign pitchers have struggled this year.

Mitch White, following a successful 2025 campaign, made just six appearances this year due to a shoulder injury and carried a 4.11 ERA before getting released last month. His short-term replacement, Ginjiro Hiramoto, went 0-3 with a 9.56 ERA in four outings, prompting the Landers to cut him in early June.

Thomas Hatch, who joined the rotation in mid-June, is 1-2 with a 7.08 ERA in four starts so far.

The Landers' Asian quota pitcher, Shota Takeda of Japan, has a 1-7 record and a 7.43 ERA after 15 games.

The Landers suffered a franchise-worst 13-game losing streak earlier this year and snapped a nine-game slide on Tuesday. They are in ninth place in the 10-team league at 31-50-3 (wins-losses-ties).