They continuously broke records in the club's history. The scouting of foreign players by the professional baseball team NC Dinos is experiencing another big success.

NC Dinos foreign pitcher Riley Thompson started on the 12th at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul in a game against the Kiwoom Heroes, throwing 104 pitches over 7 innings. He allowed 2 hits, 1 walk, struck out 15 batters, and delivered a scoreless performance, leading the team to a 7-1 victory. He achieved his 8th personal win, joining the ranks of those tied for 2nd in total wins.

On this day, Riley showcased a powerful four-seam fastball, reaching up to 155 km/h (44 pitches), along with 27 curves, 19 sliders, and 14 forkballs, effectively handling the Kiwoom lineup. With a combination of high fastballs and sharply breaking curves, he knocked down the Kiwoom hitters like falling leaves, recording 15 strikeouts.

The 15 strikeouts set a new record for most strikeouts by an NC player. Riley held the previous record as well, set on April 10th against Suwon KT, where he pitched 7 innings, allowed 1 hit, 1 walk, struck out 14 batters, and achieved a scoreless performance. Just two months later, Riley broke his own strikeout record.

With this perfect performance, Riley's season statistics now stand at 14 games, 83⅓ innings, 8 wins, 4 losses, an earned run average of 3.13, 107 strikeouts, a WHIP of 1.09, and a batting average against of .195. These are certainly worthy of being called the ace this season.

As Riley's contract conditions indicate, NC contracted him for a total of $900,000 (12 billion won). The terms include a signing bonus of $130,000, a guaranteed salary of $520,000, and incentives of $250,000. The guaranteed amount is only $650,000 (9 billion won).

As can be seen from Riley's contract conditions, the club originally considered him as the 2nd starter. The 1st starter was left-hander Logan Allen. The aggregates with Logan amounted to $1 million (contract bonus $140,000, salary $560,000, and incentives $300,000). Although the difference is not significant, the guaranteed amount for Logan was a bit higher. In fact, Logan also had more experience, recording 45 games (15 starts), 124⅓ innings, 5 wins, and 11 losses with an earned run average of 5.79 in Major League Baseball.

In contrast, Riley did not step onto the Major League stage. While playing two seasons in Triple-A, he recorded 59 games (34 starts), 188⅔ innings, 9 wins, and 12 losses with an earned run average of 5.82, which was not overwhelming. He struck out 177 batters while allowing 102 walks. He threw fastballs in the high 150 km/h range, but the issue was 4.87 walks per 9 innings.

However, NC concentrated on their unique data that did not show up in the records when scouting. They were confident that Riley could follow a growth path similar to that of Drew Luchinski, who remains the club's best foreign pitcher to date.

When Riley was recruited, NC Director General Lim Seon-nam noted, "His pitching ability and metrics were good, and our overseas scouting team observed him multiple times, providing quite positive feedback." He added, "While we noted that he had a high number of walks, we felt that he might improve when switching from the American baseball to the KBO baseball based on the trajectory and grouping of his pitches. We considered that aspect."

He recalled Drew Luchinski, who is regarded as the best foreign player in NC's history. Luchinski achieved extraordinary results at NC from 2019 to 2022, pitching in 121 games, 736⅔ innings, with 53 wins, 36 losses, an earned run average of 3.06, 657 strikeouts, and 191 walks.

Director General Lim Seon-nam stated, "Luchinski had a similar situation in the past. Before coming to Korea, his control was high and he appeared unstable, but once in Korea, he showcased a really good performance. However, when he returned to the U.S., he exhibited the same issues again." He emphasized, "While it is not possible to generalize, I believe Riley can also benefit from the changes in the official baseball, just like Luchinski."

Ultimately, NC's scouting proved to be successful. While maintaining his strikeout capability, he significantly reduced his walks to an average of 3.46 per 9 innings, all while overpowering hitters with his powerful pitching. He is steadily delivering more stable pitching results.

Logan has also recorded decent stats this season with 14 games, 77⅓ innings, 3 wins, and 6 losses, and an earned run average of 3.49, but judging by their performances so far, it’s not out of place to call Riley the ace. Additionally, he has adapted to the coaching staff's pitch design changes, and the value of the four pitches he possesses, including fastball, slider, curve, and forkball, has all increased. The evolution of his pitch utilization has made it so that any breaking ball can serve as a second pitch without any issues. On this day against Kiwoom, the curve was his secondary pitch.

NC is once again transforming a rough gem into a diamond. Following successful foreign pitcher selections with Eric Hacker, Drew Luchinski, Eric Peddy, Kyle Hart, and others, NC has once again made a big foreign pitcher achievement, showcasing their scouting ability.

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