adminFormer KT outfielder Joiro Almonte, 34, who set a record for reentering the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization after leaving the Korean Baseball Organization, is in a downward spiral.
He’s batting in the low double digits in the second team, and he’s not even guaranteed playing time.
At this point, it feels like the club has abandoned him. Even in the second team, he’s not even in the starting lineup because of the other foreign players.토토사이트
Almonte is a former KT player.
He has a love-hate relationship with KT. He didn’t have a huge drop in performance, but he was forced to retire early due to poor play and lingering injuries.
At the time of his departure, Alvonte’s batting average was .271. Considering that the chances of success for foreign players are not high, it can be said that he was adjusting well.
However, KT was in a hurry to replace the foreign player. They felt that Almonte’s play was having a negative impact on the team.
Almonte later played in the Mexican League.
In the Mexican League, Almonte almost dominated the league. Even in the middle of the season, he led the team with 27 home runs.
The Junichi Dragons, who were struggling with an anemic offense, were interested in Almonte again. They had already cut Almonte once, but with a steady batting average in the Korean Baseball Organization and a home run parade in the Mexican League, they decided to give him another chance. Almonte’s rejoining Junichi went smoothly.
However, Almonte’s regular season performance didn’t live up to expectations.
After hitting just .129 in exhibition games in 2023, Almonte batted .189 with one home run and two RBIs in the regular season.
His on-base percentage was just .204 and his slugging percentage was .264. His OPS was just 0.468. He was barely functional as a hitter.
Almonte also struggled to survive. He did everything in his power, including making diving catches that were unheard of in the Korean Baseball Organization.
But it didn’t work out, and he was sent down to the second team.
He continued to struggle in the second team. It hasn’t gotten any better.
In 14 games at the second level, he’s batting just 9-for-40 with a .129 batting average, no home runs, and eight RBIs.
His on-base percentage is just .222 and his slugging percentage is just .161. His OPS is just .384. That’s not enough to warrant a call-up to the first team. His performance in the second team is also hitting rock bottom.
At this rate, it seems inevitable that he will be released before the end of the season.
Almonte has the unusual distinction of being banned from South Korea and then rehired in Japan, but his inability to adapt to the Japanese game has put him in a difficult situation.
Almonte seems to be doing everything in his power to survive. But he doesn’t have much time to do so. He needs to make his presence felt in a short amount of time. At the moment, that doesn’t seem likely.
Almonte’s Japan dream is likely to end up being just that, a dream.