Overlord Meal Drama: Will This Year’s Korean Stage Food Be Better?

Can Birch Smith (36), who briefly played for the Hanwha Eagles in the past, overcome injuries and show a good performance this year?

Smith signed a minor league contract with the Detroit Tigers heading into this season with dreams of making the leap to the top league.

The Detroit Pistons also have Klose Ko Woo-seok who represents the KBO League. It’s just that their situations are different. Smith earned an invitation to spring training to perform in front of the coaching staff. On the contrary, Gao Yuxi dreams of not participating in spring training and entering the top league.

If Smith is selected for the Major League Baseball roster this season, he will receive a guaranteed annual salary of US$1.5 million (approximately 2 billion won). For a 36-year-old pitcher, this is definitely not a small amount of money.

Smith, who debuted in the MLB with the San Diego Padres in the 2013 season, has played for multiple teams. Before entering Korea, he played for the Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, San Francisco Giants, and Oakland Athletics (now playing for the Athletics).

Then he played for Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Seibu Lions in the 2022 season and experienced Asian baseball. In the Seibu team, he participated in a total of 20 games and achieved 1 win, 4 saves, 1 shutout, 37 strikeouts, and an average earned run average of 3.29 (38 years old, ⅓ innings).

However, he signed a contract with the Hanwha Eagles in December 2022, which is highly anticipated. But the result turned out to be the so-called “worst overlord meal in history.” On April 1 of the same year, during the opening game against the Kiwoom Heroes, he felt pain in his shoulder while pitching, and the examination revealed minor muscle damage.

Judging from the results, this is the first and last competition on the Korean stage. He left Korea after only playing one game. The KBO League score is an average of 6.75.2 earned runs per game, with 3 hits, 4 dead balls, 2 strikeouts, and 2 runs allowed in ⅔ of the inning.

Of course, Hanwha fans will not have a good feeling towards him. At that time, some fans took to his personal social networking service (SNS) to convey accusatory messages. Smith then said, “Let’s live a good life in a garbage country,” showing an emotional attitude.

Smith will be active in the top league again in the 2024 season. He has played for the Miami Marlins and Baltimore Orioles, and will play for the minor league team affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2025 season. However, on the Triple A stage, he performed poorly in 19 games with 2 wins and no losses, 3 saves and an average of 7.08 earned runs (20⅓ games, 16 earned runs), and finally experienced the pain of being exiled.

Since then, he successfully rebounded in the Dominican Winter League, striking out 20 times in 15⅓ innings. With such activity, he was finally called by Detroit as the 2026 season was approaching.

But Smith is always injured, so his physical condition has attracted much attention. Smith, who underwent elbow ligament joint surgery (Tommy John Satherry) in 2015, injured his left abdominal muscle in 2019 and was diagnosed with a right anterior carpal muscle sprain in 2020 and was out for the season. In 2021 and 2022, he struggled due to groin and right rib injuries respectively. He was also placed on the disabled list in 2024 due to a sprained right elbow. It can be said to be a huge “vitreous body”.

Can Smith fulfill his value in the top flight without injury in 2026?

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