Erick Fedde journeyed to the Korea Baseball Organization with the purpose of constructing it again to the most important leagues.
“It was somewhere I felt I could work on all my new pitches and get the ball every fifth (or) sixth day there and throw a ton of innings and prove what I had,” Fedde stated throughout a video convention name Thursday.
He proved it — after which some — by incomes KBO MVP honors in 2023.
The right-hander formally agreed to a two-year, $15 million take care of the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday. Reports of a deal first surfaced on Dec. 5.
Fedde, 30, stated the chance with the Sox means “everything.”
“I had that terrible taste in my mouth about the way my career ended up in the major leagues (in 2022 with the Washington Nationals), and going to Korea, it could be the last taste I ever had of it,” Fedde stated. “I actually didn’t need that to be how my profession ended within the main leagues, and fortuitously I’m in a position to pitch nicely and get an opportunity once more.
“That just gives me that much more fire to make sure I change the way I’m viewed and the narrative around my career and move forward in a positive way.”
The Nationals chosen Fedde with the No. 18 choose within the 2014 MLB draft. He spent six seasons with the big-league membership, going 21-33 with a 5.41 ERA and 352 strikeouts in 102 video games (88 begins) from 2017-22.
He went 6-13 with a 5.81 ERA in 27 begins in 2022.
“That last year, the reality was, unfortunately, that year in spring training I had a little hiccup with health, and I just felt like I was behind the 8-ball from the beginning. I never really felt truly healthy,” Fedde stated. “It was powerful. My velocity was down, issues weren’t sharp.
“It felt like rather than really focusing on being my best, it was just trying to get ready to go out there every five days. And that’s not a fun place to be when it’s a long season.”
Fedde knew issues needed to change and went to work that offseason. He moved to Arizona and attended the exercise facility Push Performance.
“They also had some physical therapists in the facility to get me feeling right and get myself a new repertoire and feeling strong,” Fedde stated. “Adding a sweeper, and then just got my changeup figured out and that led me to have a four-pitch mix when I went to Korea and led to a lot of the success.”
His standout numbers included a 20-6 file and a 2.00 ERA in 30 begins for the NC Dinos. He had 209 strikeouts and simply 35 walks in 180 1/3 innings.
Fedde allowed solely 9 house runs and had a 0.95 WHIP.
“You never know how things are going to shake out once real hitters get in the box and you have real at-bats in games,” Fedde stated. “So after that first month in Korea when I was having all that success and feeling like I was in command on the mound is when I first realized, ‘I think all the hard work paid off and I’m where I want to be.’”
In addition to the MVP honor, Fedde received the Choi Dong-won Award, which acknowledges the KBO’s finest pitcher.
“Korea was amazing,” he stated. “They handled me rather well. The ambiance is unmatched with the chants and simply the best way the group is. It was an incredible place for me to go, and I wished a spot the place I may throw a ton of innings and work on my issues I made changes on. Korea actually provided that for me.
“I felt like I came in there in the best shape, the best pitching repertoire I ever had, and I had a lot of confidence going in there and I think it led to the success.”
He’ll attempt to carry that momentum again to the massive leagues in Chicago.
“It’s a place I felt I could get into the rotation and help the squad be better and part of the rebuilding of that rotation,” Fedde stated.
Sox common supervisor Chris Getz stated a mix of Fedde’s numbers and pitch arsenal stood out.
“It was a tremendous runway for him to make these adjustments,” Getz stated through the winter conferences final week in Nashville, Tenn., “and then go to a league where it’s a bit of a major-league environment, from a fans and pressure standpoint. And certainly being a foreigner, it’s never easy. So he’s got a lot of confidence. We see a difference in his stuff.”
Fedde is assured his time within the KBO will translate nicely to his return to the majors.
“The biggest thing is my last year in D.C., I was not feeling as amazing as I do now,” Fedde stated. “I really feel sturdy, I really feel wholesome. My velocity is again. I really feel there’s a sharpness to my pitches that I simply didn’t have there on the finish of my (Nationals) profession.
“I’ve been lucky enough to pitch in the big leagues and I know what it takes to get outs, get swings and misses and be successful. I have a lot of confidence thinking that what I have now is a repertoire that can do that.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com