St. Louis Cardinals reliever Oh Seung-hwan looked shaky in his seventh spring appearance Thursday in Florida, issuing his first walk en route to giving up a run in one inning’s work.
Oh also gave up a pair of hits against the Washington Nationals at Space Coast Stadium in Viera, Florida, as the Cards fell 8-2.
The South Korean right-hander relieved Sam Tuivailala to start the bottom of the eighth, with St. Louis down 7-2, making his first appearance in three days. He retired Reed Johnson on a flyout to left but walked Brendan Ryan for his first free pass of the spring.
Stephen Drew followed up with a double, and Chris Heisey hit a single to left to make it 8-2 Washington.
Oh settled down to get Clint Robinson to pop out to shortstop and Tony Campana to ground out to first.
Oh has now allowed two earned runs in 7 2/3 innings, and after Thursday, his ERA went up from 1.35 to 2.35.
Oh is the career saves leader in the Korea Baseball Organization and picked up 80 saves over two seasons in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). The 33-year-old is expected to set up for All-Star closer Trevor Rosenthal.
Elsewhere in spring, Park Byung-ho of the Minnesota Twins had an RBI for his second straight game.
Batting third and playing first, Park went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored in the Twins’ 8-4 victory over the Miami Marlins at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida. Park had a day off Wednesday, and came back to record a double and an RBI for the second straight game.
He’s batting .300 with three home runs, 12 RBIs and six runs scored.
Park struck out on three pitches in the first and hit into a double play in the third. Park then flied out to center in the sixth but came through in his last at-bat in the eighth.
The Twins, trailing 3-1, put men at the corners with one out, and Park hit a double off Brad Hand to cut the deficit to 3-2.
A wild pitch by Hand made it a tie game, and Oswaldo Arcia hit a two-run home run to put the Twins ahead 5-3.
Park was lifted for a pinch hitter in the ninth, and the Twins held on for an 8-4 victory.
Park belted 52 and 53 home runs in each of the past two KBO seasons, and the Twins are hoping the 29-year-old will display a similar kind of power in the majors. He was a career first baseman in Korea but will be primarily a designated hitter with Minnesota while spelling veteran Joe Mauer at first base.
Twins’ manager Paul Molitor told MLB.com that he was pleased with the Korean’s spring showing at the plate so far.
“It’s been a little better than I had expected,” Molitor said prior to Thursday’s game. “That’s kudos to him for being the player he is and the hitter he is. I thought upper-end velocity would be a little challenging for him, but he seems to have handled that well.”
Molitor said he also liked what he’s seen on the field.
“He’s done well when I’ve played him at first base,” Molitor said. “My feeling after the spring he’s had is, I’m not going to have to protect him as I thought. When the bell rings, you never know how it’s going to go, [but] he’s swung the bat well enough for me at this stage of camp where I think he’s a guy who can contribute somewhere close to the middle of the lineup.”
In Arizona, Lee Dae-ho of the Seattle Mariners went 0-for-4 in the team’s 10-8 victory over the Colorado Rockies in Scottsdale.
Batting seventh and playing first base, Lee saw his batting average dip to .250. He reached on an error in the second and later came around to score, but failed to pick up a hit the rest of the way.
Lee, former regular season MVP in the KBO and the Japan Series MVP in the NPB, is locked in a battle for the right-handed backup first baseman job with Jesus Montero and Stephen Romero.
Montero is out of minor league options, which means if the Mariners choose not to put him on their 25-man roster, he would have to be designated for assignment and he can’t be sent to the minors without clearing waivers.
Lee has an opt-out clause, and it would allow him to declare free agency at the end of spring training instead of accepting a minor league assignment.
From a business standpoint, the Mariners were expected to pick either Lee or Montero to back up left-handed hitting Adam Lind, who has had trouble against southpaws. Yet Romero, who can play first base and outfield, has made the decision more difficult for the M’s with his strong camp.
After a 2-for-5 day versus the Rockies, Romero is batting .412/.429/.559 with a home run and seven RBIs. He’s able to play multiple positions and he also offers superior baserunning skills — 47 steals in 482 games — compared to Lee and Montero.
Lee has a home run and four RBIs, while Montero is batting .237 with no home run and four runs knocked in. (Yonhap)
