Sydney Blue Sox starting pitcher, 33-year old Chris Oxspring has signed a minor-league deal with the Detroit Tigers. Oxspring, who was born in Ipswich, has previously played a handful of games with the Padres back in 2005. He has also spent a lot of time pitching in the Korean and Japanese leagues at the LG Twins and the Hanshin Tigers. He is currently the pitching coach and number one starter for the Sydney Blue Sox in the new Australian Baseball League, and has had a dominant start to the season.
His stat line in the season so far is nothing short of impressive. He has 5 starts, with a record of 3-0, his ERA is only 0.79 over 34 innings, and he has struck out 36. Admittedly, he is a very experienced guy pitching against a lot of younger, less experienced players, but having watched him live, it is clear his command and control has been very sharp.
Commenting on the acquisition, the Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski [somewhat amusingly] said:
“We grew our operation [in the South Pacific] over the last few years...We added (international operations director) Tom Moore and added the right people. We are definitely signing more players from the Far East".
I don't know that we are quite in the Far East! Leaving that aside, it is a great achievement by Oxspring and perhaps an endorsement that the ABL is a valid US-winter league that can generate interest and attention in Major League Baseball.
We will be sure to follow Chris's journey to the States and his performance at Spring Training and keep you informed here!
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