Five former Major Leaguers playing professionally in South Korea

Tyler Saladino (Keith Allison, Wikimedia Commons)

As the majority of the sports world is on a hiatus at the moment due to coronavirus, there is professional baseball at the moment being played in South Korea. After four games so far, there are two undefeated teams–the NC Dinos and the Lotte Giants. Here are five notable players who have Major League Baseball experience who are currently playing in the KBO.

1)Aaron Altherr–The outfielder from Landstuhl, Germany played six seasons of Major League Baseball with the Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants and New York Mets from 2014 to 2019. His finest season came in 2017 with the Phillies when he batted .272 with 19 home runs and 65 runs batted in. Altherr is currently an outfielder for the NC Dinos.

2)Seung-hwan Oh– A native of Jeongeup-si, South Korea, Oh pitched 232 games over four seasons as a reliever with the St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays and Colorado Rockies from 2016 to 2019. He had a record of 16 wins, 13 losses, 42 saves and 252 strikeouts in 225 2/3 innings pitched with an earned run average of 3.31. He is now a relief pitcher for the Samsung Lions.

3) Tyler Saladino–The infielder from San Diego played second base, shortstop and third base with the Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers from 2015 to 2019. He batted .226 with 19 home runs and 92 runs batted in during 326 games. In 2016, Saladino batted a career high .282 with eight home runs and 32 runs batted in. He is currently playing third base with the Samsung Lions.

4) Dan Straily–The starting pitcher from Redlands, California played eight seasons from 2012 to 2019 with the Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, Cincinnati Reds, Miami Marlins and Baltimore Orioles. In 156 games, Straily had a record of 44 wins, 40 losses, an earned run average of 4.56 and 681 strikeouts. Straily’s best season came with the Reds in 2016. He had a record of 14-8, 162 strikeouts, and an earned run average of  3.76. He is currently a pitcher for the Lotte Giants.

5) Preston Tucker–The outfielder from Tampa played two seasons (2015 and 2016) with the Houston Astros, before sharing his time with the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves in 2018. In 243 games, he batted .222 with 23 home runs and 68 runs batted in. Tucker’s best season was his rookie season of 2015 where he batted .243 with 13 home runs and 33 runs batted in with the Astros. He is currently an outfielder with the Kia Tigers.