What a pitiful fate. A foreign player and his replacement, who left the team due to bad luck despite explosive impact, are taking completely different steps at the beginning of this season.카지노

Ruben Cardinez (27, Kiwoom Heroes) started as the third batter right fielder in the home game of the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League against SSG Landers at Gocheok Sky Dome in Guro-gu, Seoul on the 29th and led his team to a 3-1 victory with two hits, two RBIs and one run from four times at bat, including a home run.

Thanks to this, Kiwoom won four consecutive games and jumped to a tie for second place in the rankings with four wins and three losses.

Crazy firepower is at the center of Kiwoom's rise. At the center of this trend is Cardinez. Cadinez, who the Samsung Lions recruited as substitute for David McKinnon last year, showed explosive power with a batting average of 0.333, two homers, five RBIs and two runs scored in seven games and an on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) of 1.027.

The problem was injury. He suddenly complained of pain in his side and ended up causing controversy over his poor communication skills. Despite the huge short-term impact, Samsung started replacing foreigners again, and Cardinez had to say goodbye to the KBO League.

Kiwoom did not miss Cardinez. Due to concerns over his injury, he was able to bring in Kadinez at a low price for just 600,000 dollars (882.6 million won) and 450,000 dollars (660 million won) in guarantees. He has also been confirmed that he has no physical problems during the recruitment process.

Cardinez hits a home run in the bottom of the fourth inning and is looking at the ball.
Kiwoom, which wanted to fill the weakened lineup by leaving even Kim Hye-sung (LA Dodgers), became the only team in the KBO League with two foreign batters along with Yasiel Puig.

I am seeing the effect in the early days of this season. Cardinez is enjoying immense performance with a batting average of 0.440 (11 hits in 25 times at bat), three homers, 16 RBIs, seven runs scored, six walks and six strikeouts, an on-base percentage of 0.515, a slugging percentage of 0.840 and an OPS of 1.355.

At the end of the fourth inning when his team was losing 0-1, Kim did not miss a 136 kilometer-per-hour changeup shot. The powerful hit made a tying solo shot that flew well over the left fence. It was his third homer of this season.

He continued his RBI record in seven consecutive games since the opening. This is the most consecutive game RBI tie since the opening. Previously, Kim Jae-hwan (Doosan) set the record from May 5-13, 2020. If foreign batters are limited, the Korean team is already breaking new records. The previous record was five games for the Japanese team.

In the fifth inning, Cardinez, who took the batter's box with two outs and runners on the first and third bases, hit Kim Kwang-hyun's main weapon, a slider, bringing in a runner on the third base with a clean left-handed hit, and scoring a come-from-behind RBI.

He is ranking first in RBIs by showing a big difference from Matt Davidson (NC, 11 RBIs) who is ranking second in RBIs and is also ranking second in OPS, an indicator that easily demonstrates a batter's productivity. He is also tying for first in scoring with a batting average of 0.667.

Cardinez celebrates after hitting a home run.
He is also boasting tremendous strength. In the match against SSG on Friday, he even recorded a Bodhisattva who caught the runner with a perfect throw.

Coach Hong Won-ki met with reporters ahead of the game on the 29th and said, "Regardless of the width of the defense and the width of the left and right, I think the accuracy and intensity of the throwing will be within the fingers of the league," adding, "Those parts have been a huge driving force for us to win."

Regarding the record of consecutive RBI marches since the opening of the game, he said, "I had no idea there was such a record. "When I have a runner, I think it's my role to bring him home," he said. "I don't have to make complicated calculations, and I'm focusing on my duties at that moment. I was able to set such a record thanks to the players who were on base in front of me. I'm grateful to my teammates. I'll try to maintain my current condition."

Despite this, he is not satisfied easily. "I tend to seek perfection. I think I can do better than I do now, and I am making more efforts," Kadinez told Star News before the game. "I like to hit when I can make an RBI and enjoy it."

Last year, he played exactly seven games for Samsung and the same game for Kiwoom. "The biggest difference is that my physical condition is so good compared to last year. It's similar to last year's in that I'm showing what I have. I haven't changed anything in particular in terms of my skills. I'm making more efforts to achieve a better performance than last year."

Cardinals and frantic teammates who hit home runs and celebrate for the dugout.

Cardinez hits a home run and celebrates in the dugout.
It is more burdensome because it is the only team with two foreign batters. Cadines also feels this responsibility. "We have two foreign hitters in our team and we are working well together. I know that the expectations are high for the two," he said. "However, I do not feel too much pressure and try to show the best results for the swings I can."

The situation is all the more worrisome because Lewin Diaz, who replaced him at Samsung last year, has shown sluggish performance. Diaz has a batting average of 0.259 (7 hits in 27 at-bats), two homers, six RBIs and four runs scored, a on-base percentage of 0.276, a slugging percentage of 0.519 and an OPS of 0.795.

Diaz, who joined as a substitute for Cardinez last year, was considered a blessing in disguise for Samsung by leading the batting average of 0.282, seven home runs, 19 RBIs and 14 points in 29 games, and OPS of 0.849 in the fall baseball, but he has been sluggish early this season.

In the opening series against Kiwoom, he had five hits in two games and multiple homers in the game on Sunday, but suffered one hit in 16 at-bats in the next four games, and was eventually excluded from the starting lineup ahead of the game against the Doosan Bears on Sunday. He pitched in the middle of the game and made a timely hit, but it is still hard to say that he is satisfied.

Although it is still early in the season, the fate of the two foreign hitters is strangely mixed.