Why did Kiwoom Heroes abandon a player like this? The ace of the last-place team, called by a championship contender, is already showing signs of a breakout.

KT Wiz manager Lee Kang-chul noted with a satisfied smile, "We really brought in Heisus well," during the first season matchup against the SSG Landers in the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Incheon SSG Landers Field on the 4th.

KT acquired new foreign pitcher Emmanuel De Heisus for an aggregate amount of $1 million (about 1.4 billion won) last December. The contract terms include a non-incentive signing bonus of $200,000 and a guaranteed salary of $800,000 with no options.

With the opening of the stove league, KT pushed to re-sign former ace William Cuevas. "The best scenario is to acquire a stronger No. 1 starter than Cuevas, with Cuevas serving as the No. 2 starter," leading to the decision to part ways with No. 2 starter Wes Benjamin.

After securing Cuevas for an aggregate amount of $1.5 million (about 2.1 billion won), KT decisively acquired Heisus, who was excluded from the Kiwoom Heroes' protected players list, and entrusted him with the ace duties.

Heisus performed admirably while wearing the Kiwoom uniform with an aggregate salary of $800,000 (about 1.1 billion won) for the 2024 season, pitching in 30 games with a record of 13 wins and 11 losses and a 3.68 earned run average (171⅓ innings, 70 earned runs). Despite being a rookie, he quickly adapted to the league and earned the title of a valuable foreign pitcher. He ranked 2nd in strikeouts (178), tied for 3rd in wins, and 7th in earned run average, placing himself as a candidate for the Golden Glove award in the pitching category.

The more surprising aspect is that all of this was recorded by a Kiwoom team that finished last with a record of 58 wins and 86 losses (winning percentage of .403) last year. Kiwoom completed the 2024 season with the lowest batting average (0.264), runs scored (672), home runs (104), and OPS (0.717) in the league, yet Heisus stood out as a top-level foreign pitcher with such a lineup.

Transitioning from a last-place team to a championship contender, Heisus has showcased overwhelming pitching this season with a record of 1 win and 1 loss and an earned run average of 0.95 over 3 games (19 innings, 2 earned runs).

Starting with 1 earned run over 6 innings in his KT debut on the 22nd against the Hanwha Eagles, Heisus pitched 7 scoreless innings against the Lotte Giants on Mar. 28 and 6 innings with 3 earned runs (1 earned) against the LG Twins on Apr. 3. As he did with Kiwoom, he currently ranks 1st in quality starts, 2nd in innings, 3rd in earned run average, tied for 3rd in strikeouts, and 4th in WHIP (0.79) among various pitching metrics.

When asked to evaluate Heisus's three games, manager Lee Kang-chul praised, "He is sincere about baseball and knows how to throw the ball. If you have him do catch, he'll pitch. He knows when, what, and where to throw."

He added, "His stamina is good, so he doesn't tire easily. Throwing 100 pitches, even on the 100th pitch, he reaches 150 km/h. I actually saw him throwing harder as the game went on. He is quite consistent."

Along with his skill, Heisus also made a significant impression on the manager with his character. Lee Kang-chul remarked, "When he was with Kiwoom, I just thought of him as a good pitcher, but seeing him here shows that he has a really nice personality. After his own pitching, he comes back and cheers for his teammates while icing. He seems to be a player who thinks of the team first."

Heisus, who transferred from Kiwoom to KT, has successfully landed in Suwon.

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