Former big leaguer Eric Sogard (37) faces Korea in the World Baseball Classic (WBC).
The Czech Baseball Association announced the news of Sogad’s joining the national team through the official Twitter on the night of the 6th.
According to them, Sogad obtained Czech citizenship in January 2022 and was qualified to participate in the national team.
Sogard began his professional baseball career by being selected by the San Diego Padres in the second round of the 2007 draft.
He made his big league debut with the Oakland Athletics in 2010 and played 815 games for 5 teams over 11 seasons, batting average of 0.246, on-base percentage of 0.313, slugging average of 0.337, 26 homers and 187 RBIs. He played in 8 career games in the postseason.
In 2019, he played 110 games with the Toronto Blue Jays and the Tampa Bay Rays, hitting a career high with a batting average of 0.290, an on-base percentage of 0.353, a slugging average of 0.457, 13 homers and 40 RBIs.
His main positions are second baseman (531 games) and shortstop (140 games), but he also has experience playing third baseman, 스포츠토토 first baseman, and corner outfield. He also pitched in five games.
Sogad will lead the Czech national team as the only player with big league experience.
His last record was playing for the Chicago Cubs in 2021. It remains to be seen what he will show as he has no official game appearances in 2022.
In the first round of the WBC, the Czech Republic will face hosts Japan, Korea, Australia, and China.
