SSG Landers pitcher Mitch White (31) is expected to return from a right hamstring injury as early as mid-April.
SSG announced on the 14th that during a game against the Kiwoom Heroes in the '2025 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League' at Incheon SSG Landers Field, "White has received a report that his right hamstring area has recovered over 80%."
White is a right-handed pitcher who has recorded 4 wins, 12 losses, and an Earned Run Average (ERA) of 5.25 over 71 Major League games (185 innings). As a Korean American, he was mentioned as a candidate for the Korean national team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) and is well known among Korean fans for resembling 'Korean Express' Park Chan-ho. This season, he was highly anticipated as the ace but sustained a right hamstring injury during training at the Okinawa spring camp in Japan and returned home early.
White's injury, which was expected to lead the SSG starting rotation alongside Drew Anderson, is a major setback for SSG as it completely disrupts their starting lineup plans. However, the results from today's examination indicated that he avoided a serious injury, thus escaping the worst-case scenario. SSG explained, "White plans to conduct bullpen pitching following an additional examination on the 24th, and if there are no issues, he could return as early as mid-April if recovery progresses smoothly."
SSG considered acquiring a foreign pitcher as a substitute depending on the severity of White's injury, but with White's potential for a quick return, the likelihood of filling the gap with internal resources for about a month has increased. Head coach Lee Soong-yong noted in an interview on the 13th, "Bringing in a replacement foreign pitcher right now is somewhat ambiguous. If we bring someone in, it would take six weeks, and many pitchers in Japan currently don't even have passports, and the same goes for the U.S. If he's going to be out for about six weeks anyway, I think it's better to wait a little longer."
During White's absence, the SSG starting rotation will include Anderson, Kim Kwang-hyun, Moon Seung-won, along with Song Young-jin, Park Jong-hoon, Jeong Dong-yoon, and Kim Gun-woo. Coach Lee Soong-yong plans to utilize pitchers who competed for the 5th starter position in a 1+1 strategy for the 4th and 5th starter roles. "I'm thinking carefully about how to best implement 1+1 through good selection and focus. I also plan to match 1+1 for the 4th starter. There are many considerations regarding the pitching roster," he explained.
[OSEN]