Suwon: The KT Wiz announced their signing of former major league pitcher Patrick Murphy. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) club stated that Murphy agreed to a US$277,000 deal for the remainder of the season. The league commenced its annual All-Star break on Friday, with the season set to resume next Thursday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, in a corresponding move, the Wiz released William Cuevas, their longtime staff ace, after parts of seven seasons with the right-hander. Murphy, 30, was a third-round pick by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2013 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft and made his big league debut with the club in 2020. He later played for the Washington Nationals, with his last MLB game in 2022. Murphy also had a stint with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball in 2024, where he recorded a 3.26 ERA over 38 2/3 innings in relief, before returning to the United States this year for a minor league stint with the Texas Rangers.
"Murphy has a good four-seam fastball and can mix in two-seam fastballs, cutters, and curveballs effectively," Wiz general manager Na Do-hyun commented, expressing hopes that Murphy will become an anchor for their pitching staff.
Na also expressed gratitude to Cuevas for his contributions over the past seven seasons. The 34-year-old pitcher had a challenging first half of the season, with a record of 3-10 and a 5.40 ERA in 18 starts. Cuevas initially joined the Wiz in 2019 and was released in 2022 due to an elbow injury but was re-signed in June 2023, achieving a perfect 12-0 record that year.
Cuevas was instrumental in the Wiz's journey to their first Korean Series title in 2021. He notably started the first-place tiebreaker game against the Samsung Lions on two days' rest, delivering seven shutout innings for a 1-0 win, which secured the Wiz's place in the Korean Series. He further contributed by winning Game 1 of the championship series against the Doosan Bears.
This year, however, Cuevas struggled to replicate his past success, allowing five or more runs in six starts, including a career-worst performance on April 23 against the SSG Landers. The Wiz entered the All-Star break positioned fifth among 10 teams in the league standings, with a record of 45-41-3 (wins-losses-ties).