Thank you for the opportunity Foreigners who were serious about KIA, are they breaking up or renewing their contracts...It starts from the ground up

Oct 28, 2025

Thank you for the opportunity Foreigners who were serious about KIA, are they breaking up or renewing their contracts...It starts from the ground up
The Hanwha-KIA match held at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on the 17th. First baseman Wisdom, who made a catch error when Liberato doubled with one out in the top of the first inning. Gwangju = Reporter Jeong Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.9.17/



"Korea said thank you for the opportunity."

KIA Tigers foreign hitter Patrick Wisdom returned to his hometown of the U.S. with his family after the regular season. Before leaving Gwangju, Wisdom greeted KIA officials and thanked them for the opportunity"I left after expressing my sincere feelings.

Wisdom was not a player with any intention on the Korean stage from the beginning. A player who spent seven seasons in the major leagues from 2018 to last year. Last year, he played for the Chicago Cubs and had only 75 games, making it difficult to stay in the Major League, so he went to the Mexican League after the season. The goal was to re-enter the Major League, but KIA persuaded Wizdom to bring him.




Born in 1991, Wisdom was old enough to make a comeback in overseas leagues. Moving to the KBO League was a matter of giving up trying again in the Major League soon. KIA was able to get an autograph after visiting the agency representative of Wisdom in person and persuading him for two days.

Wisdom drew attention as an 88-homer hitter in the Major League. Major League Baseball also showed the power to overcome if hit. The problem was batting average. He had a batting average of 0.171 (27 hits in 158 at-bats) last season, and his Major League career batting average was 0.209 (274 hits in 1311 at-bats). The figure was also low considering that the batting average of hitters who are good in the Major League is in their late-20s.

KIA expected Wisdom to be a success even if he hit 30 home runs this year. Wisdom hit more than expected 35 home runs. He was a 30-homer foreign hitter who appeared in KIA for the first time in five years. The problem is nutritional value. There were only six home runs in scoring position. There were 22 solo home runs. The season batting average was 0.236, which was also disappointing, but the scoring batting average was lower at 0.207. This is why the controversy over nutritional value has not stopped throughout the season.




Thank you for the opportunity Foreigners who were serious about KIA, are they breaking up or renewing their contracts...It starts from the ground up
KBO League SSG and KIA at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on the 28th. KIA Wisdom, who hit a first solo home run in the top of the first inning. Incheon = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2025.08.28/
Thank you for the opportunity Foreigners who were serious about KIA, are they breaking up or renewing their contracts...It starts from the ground up
The game between KIA and Doosan held at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on the 12th. KIA Wisdom, who is struck out by Doosan Choi Won-joon in the sixth inning. Gwangju =Song Jeong-heon, Reporter Song@sportschosun.com/2025.09.12/
KIA had something to be thankful for Wisdom as it played the season apart from the controversy over its batting nutritional value. Wisdom took over as third baseman when the main third baseman Kim Do-young left due to three hamstring injuries. Wisdom played more as a third baseman in the United States than as a first baseman, but in KIA, he expressed his desire to focus more on hitting while playing as a first baseman. Nevertheless, when a big variable called Kim Do-young occurred in the team, he silently played as a third baseman. In Korea, foreign hitters have to be shown by hitting, but they risked a situation where they could suffer a loss in hitting. Wisdom played 505 ⅓ as first baseman and 406 innings as third baseman this year.

KIA is looking for a foreign hitter next season without completely closing the possibility of renewing the contract with Wisdom. Still, the possibility of renewing the contract does not seem high. KIA has been raising Oh Sun-woo to first base in earnest since the end of the regular season. During the closing training in Gwangju, Oh Seon-woo received intensive first-base defensive training, and decided to devote all his efforts to first-base defensive training by volunteering to participate in the closing camp in Okinawa, Japan next month. If Oh Sun-woo settles down as the first baseman and third baseman Kim Do-young returns healthy, catching Wisdom may be negative for the growth of domestic infielders.

KIA first moves to bring in the best hitter regardless of position.




KIA manager Lee Bum-ho said, `The infield outfielder is not important, but we need to find the batter who can hit the best. If there is (Kim) Do-young, and a foreign hitter has a batting average of 7-8 percent higher in Wisdom's ability, honestly, the batting line is powerful.'

Thank you for the opportunity Foreigners who were serious about KIA, are they breaking up or renewing their contracts...It starts from the ground up
A game between the KIA Tigers and the LG Twins at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on the 24th. KIA Wizdom is cheering after hitting a solo shot with two outs in the bottom of the third inning. Gwangju = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.08.24/




This article was translated by Naver AI translator.