LG Twins sign ex-MLB pitcher Chirinos on one-year, $1-million deal

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LG Twins sign ex-MLB pitcher Chirinos on one-year, $1-million deal

Published: 27 Nov. 2024, 17:09

Miami Marlins starting pitcher Yonny Chirinos throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets on July 22 in Miami. [AP/YONHAP]

The LG Twins announced Wednesday they have signed former major league pitcher Yonny Chirinos.

Chirinos, a 30-year-old right-hander from Venezuela, agreed to a one-year deal worth $1 million, the maximum for all first-year foreign players in the KBO.

Chirinos made his big league debut with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018 and pitched for them until July 2023, before being claimed off waivers by the Atlanta Braves.

Chirinos spent the 2024 season with the Miami Marlins organization, making six starts with the big league team and 21 starts for their Triple-A affiliate in Jacksonville.

In 75 major league games, including 44 starts, Chirinos has a 20-17 record with a 4.22 ERA, with 283 strikeouts in 356 1/3 innings.

He went 10-6 with a 3.66 ERA in Triple-A this year, recording 92 strikeouts in 110 2/3 innings. He was 0-2 with a 6.30 ERA in the majors.

The Twins began the 2024 season with Casey Kelly and Dietrich Enns as their two foreign pitchers, but replaced Kelly with Elieser Hernandez in July.

In 2024, the Twins finished with the second-lowest team ERA at 4.63, after leading the league with a 3.67 ERA in their Korean Series-winning 2023 season.

The Twins called Chirinos "a groundball pitcher" who gets soft contact off his sinkers and splitters.

Per Baseball Savant, Chirinos threw slider (39 percent of the time), sinker (29.7 percent), four-seam fastball (16.5 percent) and splitter (14.8 percent) with the Marlins in 2024.

In 2023, when he made 20 appearances, Chirinos had a groundball rate of 46.3 percent, slightly above the major league average of 42.5 percent.

Chirinos' groundball rate fell to 36.9 percent in a smaller sample this year, with the major league average coming to 42.2 percent.

Yonhap