NC Dinos’ new foreign pitcher Tanner Tully pitched well in his KBO debut.

Tanner took the mound as the starting pitcher in the NC Dinos’ home game against the Hanwha Eagles of the 2023 KBO League at Changwon NC Park on May 15.

Tanner, who was selected by the 먹튀검증 Cleveland Indians in the 2016 draft, is a left-handed pitcher who made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut last year. In his big league career, he went 3-0 with a 6.00 ERA, and in 159 career games (131 starts) in the minors, he went 44-51 with a 4.18 ERA. Prior to coming to NC this year, he pitched in 19 games (19 starts) for the New York Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate, going 5-5 with a 5.64 ERA.

Tanner makes his KBO debut against the Changwon Hanwha on May 15. Photo courtesy of NC
NC, which formed a foreign one-two punch with Eric Peddie and Taylor Widener this season, recently released Widener after his up-and-down form and signed Tanner. Widener, meanwhile, quickly found employment in the Korean scene, donning a Samsung Lions jersey.

Speaking about Tanner before the game, NC manager Kang Myung-ho said, “I saw him pitching out of the bullpen. It’s hard to tell because he wasn’t pitching at 100%, but it was very similar to what we saw on video. “He doesn’t have a very high fastball velocity, but you can see that he has a lot of different pitches that he’s comfortable with.” “I’d like to see him go longer innings. It’s important for him to show that he’s stable.”

Tanner made his Korean debut in the number nine slot with much anticipation. It didn’t start well. In the first inning, leadoff hitter Moon Hyun-bin singled to right. Nick Williams followed with an infield single, but gave up a solo shot over the left field fence to Noh Si-hwan. Chae Eun-sung grounded out to third to end the inning.

In the top of the second, Tanner settled down. He gave up a single to right to Kim Tae-yeon, but calmly retired Lee Jin-young (fly to center), Choi Jae-hoon (grounder to third), and Kim In-hwan (strikeout). In the top of the third, he struck out Lee Do-yoon and Moon Hyun-bin before getting Williams to fly out to right field to complete the first three-hit shutout inning for Korea.

The calm continued in the top of the fourth. Noh Si-hwan (not out), Chae Eun-sung (fly to right field), and Kim Tae-yeon (grounder to third base) were retired in order. In the top of the fifth, Lee Jin-young (straight hit to shortstop), Choi Jae-hoon (fly to right field), and Kim In-hwan (fly to center field) got outs.

However, the top of the sixth inning was disappointing. Lee Do-yoon, the leadoff hitter, singled to left. A sacrifice bunt by Moon put runners on first and second, and Tanner gave up a two-run shot to Williams over the right field fence. He then got Noh Si-hwan to fly out to right field and gave up a single up the middle to Chae Eun-sung, but got Kim Tae-yeon to fly out to shortstop to end his day.

The final line was six innings, two runs, two hits, four walks and three strikeouts. Out of a total of 86 pitches, he utilized his fastball (34 pitches), which has been measured at up to 144km/h, along with his slider (29 pitches), changeup (18 pitches), and curveball (5 pitches).

Tanner had a quality start (six or more innings and three or fewer earned runs) in his debut. However, he turned the ball over to reliever Kim Si-hoon with the team trailing 2-3, so if NC is unable to tie the game and loses, he will suffer his first loss in the KBO.