‘KBO Release→Mexico→NPB Re-Employment’ Foreign Batter, 1-Hitter→2-Gun…Another Release Crisis

Almonte, a foreign player who was released from the KBO and rejoined the Nippon Professional Baseball through the Mexican league, is facing expulsion again. He was demoted to the second team with a batting average in the teens.

Almonte has had a tumultuous career. In recent years, he has played in Japan, South Korea, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Japan. Almonte spent the 2021 season playing for KT Wiz in the KBO before being released midseason. In 60 games, Almonte batted .271 with seven home runs and 36 RBIs, which wasn’t bad, but his defence and baserunning left a lot to be desired.메이저놀이터

Previously, Almonte played three seasons in Japan between 2018 and 2020 in Junichi. In his three years in Japan, he batted 29-for-44 with nine doubles, nine home runs, 31 RBIs, and an OPS of .848 in 62 games in 2020. With his experience in Asian baseball, KT signed Almonte as a mid-to-long range hitter with accuracy, but he failed to meet expectations.

After being released by KT, Almonte played in the Dominican Winter League in the winter of 2021 and signed with Monterrey in the Mexican League in 2022. In the hitter-friendly Mexican League, Almonte played in 90 games, batting .322 with 27 home runs, 95 RBIs, and a 1.044 OPS, prompting Japan’s Junichi to re-sign him for the 2023 season.

Almonte’s return to Nippon Professional Baseball after a three-year absence was never the same. He struggled at the start of the season. In 28 games, he slumped to a .468 OPS with one home run and 14 RBIs. He was silent in scoring position, going 2-for-16 with a .125 on-base percentage.

After being bumped to the bench in mid-May, he was removed from the first team roster on 22 May. His last at-bat with the first team came in the fifth inning against Yomiuri on 21 May, when he pinch-hit with runners on first and second and struck out.

Almonte, meanwhile, is 4-for-18 in five games with the second team, batting 2-for-2.