Koo Woo-seok (28), who plays for the Double-A Erie SeaWolves, a minor league affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, has continued dominant pitching since being demoted to Double-A.
Koo appeared in relief in the Double-A minor league game against the Binghamton Rumble Ponies at Mirabito Stadium in New York on the 22nd (Korean time), recording 1⅔ innings, one walk, two strikeouts and no runs allowed.
Entering the mound in the bottom of the fourth with Erie trailing 1-2 and facing a 1-out, runners on first and second crisis, Koo walked leadoff hitter A.J. Ewing, creating a bases-loaded threat. But he escaped the jam by striking out both Marco Vargas and Jacob Rimer.
In the top of the fifth Erie tied the game 2-2, and Koo stayed on the mound in the bottom of the fifth. After allowing leadoff hitter Chris Sueiro to reach on a throwing error by the third baseman, Koo induced a ground ball to the second baseman from Eli Serrano III that put out the runner from first at second. He then induced a 4-6-3 double play against Jose Ramos to end the inning. He was relieved by Trevin Michael in the seventh to finish his appearance that day.
Koo, who has played as a top closer in the KBO League with totals of 354 games (368⅓ innings), 19 wins, 26 losses, six holds, 139 saves and a 3.18 earned run average, contributed to LG's Korea Series championship in 2023 with 44 games (44 innings), three wins, eight losses, 15 saves and a 3.68 ERA. After the season ended, he sought a move to the major leagues through posting and signed with San Diego for two years and $4.5 million (about 670 million won).
But reaching a major league mound was not easy. Starting the season in Triple-A, Koo was traded to Miami in 2024 and still did not receive a big-league call-up. Last year, he suffered an injury before the season began, luck did not favor him, and his poor form continued, resulting in his release in May. He was able to continue the season after signing a minor league contract with Detroit.
After failing to earn a big-league call-up last year, Koo signed another minor league contract with Detroit. In March he participated on the South Korea national team at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) and, after the tournament ended, returned to his club to play the minor league season.
Struggling with a poor performance in Triple-A—two games (1⅓ innings), one loss and a 20.25 ERA—Koo was demoted to Double-A on the 9th. But the move to Double-A has instead become a turning point. He has posted a scoreless streak since the Double-A demotion.
Having left a strong impression with two scoreless innings in each of the previous three outings, Koo recorded 1⅔ scoreless innings in this game as well, successfully keeping a scoreless record across all Double-A appearances. Including Triple-A, he has recorded five consecutive scoreless appearances. His Double-A numbers stand at four games (7⅔ innings) with a 0.00 ERA. Koo's hope of miraculously making his major league debut is slowly growing.
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