The 2023 Winter Meetings have been quiet thanks in large part to the sweepstakes for a generational talent. However, there has been some movement in the free agent market. The White Sox signed 2023 KBO MVP Erick Fedde to a two-year deal after a dominant run in Korea. That success was thanks to an overhauled arsenal.
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A Look at Fedde
Former Nationals right-hander Erick Fedde was a highly-touted prospect nearly a decade ago after Washington took him in the first round in 2014. However, things did not go well for Fedde in his first MLB run.
Between 2017-2022, Fedde owned a career ERA of 5.41 and owned less-than-average BB% rates per season for virtually his whole career. After a poor 2022 campaign and a non-tender from the Nationals, Fedde opted to go to Korea and joined the NC Dinos of the KBO.
Fedde’s 2023 in the KBO was a fine one, as the right-hander — normally a below-average strikeout pitcher — struck out 209 over 180.1 frames and walked just 35 (1.7 BB/9) for the Dinos.
All of that came after a rigorous offseason in 2022 that saw him work on his physical health after shoulder problems and fine-tune his mechanics and pitch arsenal.
Just from looking at Fedde’s KBO footage, one could see a different pitcher as compared to the Fedde that last pitched in the Majors. The big change to Fedde’s arsenal is a sharp sweeper that has very good movement visually and got hitters to chase in Korea.
Another change to how Fedde approached the game is how much he now used the changeup. Per the Washington Post from earlier this year, Fedde increased the usage rate of his changeup per the analytics team’s recommendations.
Fedde’s change — one with good fade and arm side run — complements his sinker that he still threw in Korea and hit the 92-94 MPH range per the KBO broadcast graphics.
Per ESPN, the 2023 KBO MVP received a two-year deal worth $15MM.
The 30-year-old is not the righty who was heavily dependent on his sinker/curveball/cutter combo to get him through innings. Now, he’ll look to join Chris Flexen, Brooks Raley, and Merrill Kelly as pitchers who were able to rejuvenate their MLB ambitions after a stint in Korea.
Analysis
At the start of last season, the White Sox left Arizona with a rotation that included Mike Clevinger, Lucas Giolito, Michael Kopech, Lance Lynn, and Dylan Cease. Fast forward to December, and three of those names are gone and Cease’s name has been thrown around in trade scenarios for months.
Chicago already added two projectable arms in Mike Soroka and Jared Shuster this offseason via the Aaron Bummer trade. But, the White Sox still need more pitchers, and Chicago got another one in Erick Fedde.
The pickup of Fedde does come with upside, as the righty’s new sweeper does give him a much-needed out pitch against righties. It might not be sexy, but it does help that he’s a different pitcher and there are examples of arms who have returned from KBO to find MLB success.