Resilient Rios racks up the innings
Steady Bear: Daniel Rios, left, a pitcher for the Doosan Bears, leads the Korea Baseball Organization in wins, innings pitched and ERA. By Lee Chan-weon
To say the 34-year-old right-hander has been the epitome of an ace would be akin to saying the sun rises in the east.
Through yesterday, the durable Rios is the workhorse of the Korea Baseball Organization and leads in all pitching categories that matter: wins (14), complete games (5), shutouts (4) and innings pitched (164 2/3). His earned run average is also the best in the league at 1.53.
Born in Madrid, Spain, Rios came to the United States at age 1 and later attended the University of Miami. Signed as a free agent by the New York Yankees in 1993, Rios played very briefly in the majors.
In Korea, another eye-popping statistic is that Rios has given up just five home runs all season in 22 starts.
How does he do it?
“You don’t really go out there thinking, ‘Don’t let him hit a home run,’ because then your mind is thinking of the home run,” Rios said.
“You want to pitch smart enough and effectively enough that you don’t give up the extra-base hits. But you don’t sit there and think, ‘I don’t want to give up the home run.’”
Rios eats up innings like NFL linebackers clean up their post-game meal. He is the only pitcher in Korea to throw at least 200 innings each of the past three seasons. And at 164 2/3 innings through 22 starts this season, Rios is well on his way to that plateau again.
“I don’t think I pitch a lot. If it happens, it happens,” Rios said of getting to the 200 mark. “It’s not a goal.
“Actually, I want to throw 200, 210 innings, because that means I am going deep into games, and I am giving my team the chance to win,” Rios said. “If I have 150 innings [at the end of the season], that means I am getting knocked around.”
This season Rios has been asked to keep the Bears in the game, because the rest of the rotation has been inconsistent. Matt Randle, who earlier formed the league’s best one-two punch with Rios at the top of the rotation, jumped out to an 8-2 record through June, but he is now stuck at 8-4. He also had a stint in the minors.
Doosan manager Kim Kyung-moon in July started closer Jung Jae-hun in two games, with setup man Lim Tae-hoon taking over the closing role briefly.
The Bears entered the season having lost last year’s No. 1 starter, Park Myung-hwan, to free agency. Another starter, lefty Lee Hei-chun, has battled back injury.
Rios is unfazed by his responsibility.
“There’s no pressure because I am not starting twice in five days,” he said. “We still compete with bullpen guys in the rotation. They’re doing a very good job.”
In his sixth season here, Rios is often called “the most Korean” of all foreign players. Park Jin-hwan, a public relations officer from the Bears, said Rios has made efforts to learn Korean, and is able to read hangul, Korean script. He also said Rios goes out of his way to share his wisdom with younger teammates and is open to suggestions from coaches.
Rios makes the extra effort not to just please people but to live up to his own high standards.
Daniel Rios pitched his fourth complete game shutout of the season with a 4-0 win over the Hanwha Eagles Tuesday. [NEWSIS]
At this pace, Rios isn’t going anywhere. The Bears are in the thick of the playoff race, and through Tuesday’s games, they were ranked second in the eight-team league. The top four teams advance to the postseason.
But the Bears, who led the league in May, are looking at a tougher race than they bargained for. The LG Twins and the Hanwha Eagles are both one game behind the Bears. The defending champion Samsung Lions are two games back of Doosan in fifth place. The first-place SK Wyverns are 6.5 games ahead.
Then there’s the quirkiness of the playoff format in Korean baseball. The regular season champ receives a bye to the Korean Series, the championship showdown, and waits nearly two weeks to meet its opponent. The second-place team faces the winner between the No. 3 and the No. 4 seeds, who play a best-of-three format.
This is where the competitive Rios falls into a catch-22. Do you rest a couple of weeks and risk falling out of game shape? Or do you keep playing through the playoffs even though you might tire?
“I’d rather keep playing, but I also don’t want to come in third or fourth,” Rios said. “As a professional, you don’t want to sneak into the third place. That’s not the way to make the playoffs, period.”
Sometimes, the competitive nature of the 187-centimeter tall (6-foot-2), 90-kilogram (198 pounds) Rios can spill over.
“Rios can sometimes lose his composure after a bad pitch,” said Bears’ pitching coach Yoon Sok-hwan. “But it’s nothing to be worried about. Everyone else has a similar problem.”
Rios appears to have found his niche in Korea. His wife Karen, daughter Gabrielle and son Matthew live with him in Seoul.
At 34, Rios appears comfortable with his place in baseball and in the world.
“I always want to go back to the majors. That’s the dream,” said Rios, who pitched 9 2/3 innings in the majors in 1997 and 1998 with the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals. “But eventually, you move on, and I am lucky to be playing baseball. I’ve found a place to keep playing ― I’m pretty lucky.”
By Yoo Jee-ho Staff Writer [jeeho@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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