Ex-NPB star to join Tigers for one year

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Ex-NPB star to join Tigers for one year

Published: 02 Jan. 2014, 20:41

The Kia Tigers of the Korea Baseball Organization said yesterday they have signed a one-year, $300,000 deal with D.J. Houlton. The 35-year-old right-hander from the United States previously played six seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball with two clubs, the SoftBank Hawks and Yomiuri Giants.

In his last season with the Giants, he went 9-3 with a 3.73 ERA in 18 games while pitching 103 and two-thirds innings. In six seasons in Japan, he had a record of 63-39 with an ERA of 3.11 and six saves. During the 2011 season with the SoftBank Hawks, he led the Pacific League with 19 wins.

Before he played in Japan, he spent two seasons in the major league, including at the Los Angeles Dodgers, with whom he had a record of 6-11 with a 4.99 ERA. He also went 54-38 with a 3.83 ERA and two saves in six minor-league seasons.

The Tigers said Houlton, who is 193 centimeters (6 feet, 3 inches) tall and weighs 107 kilograms (236 pounds), throws 140 kilometers-per-hour (87-miles-per-hour) fastballs with slow curves that come in at 110 kilometers per hour and 130-kilometers-per-hour changeups.

By Kwon Sang-soo