CPBL Foreign Players Updates Volume #271
CTBC Brothers News: Nick Kingham
On May 3, the CTBC Brothers announced the signing of Nick Kingham as their new foreign pitcher. The signing came just in time to fill the rotation gap with Shawn Morimando out with a season-ending elbow injury.
According to the team, Nick Kingham, the 31-year-old American right-hander, is set to arrive in Taiwan on May 7.
Nick Kingham began his professional career with the Pittsburgh Pirates organisation in 2010 as a fourth-round pick. After several years in the minor leagues, he eventually made his MLB debut in 2018 and was active for two seasons, pitching for the Pirates and Blue Jays. In over 131.2 innings of work, Nick Kingham compiled a 6.08 ERA and 1.58 WHIP.
Decent Foreign Pitcher When He’s Healthy
From 2020 to 2022, Nick Kingham went to the other side of the world to Korea and played for the SK Wyverns and Hanwha Eagles of the KBO. In three KBO seasons, he posted a 3.37 ERA and 1.16 WHIP over 171 innings.
There are some slight concerns over his health, as Nick Kingham failed to complete two out of three seasons during his time in the KBO. He was released mid-season in 2020 and 2022 due to an elbow injury.
However, when Nick Kingham was healthy, he showcased his ability to pitch. In 2021, he made 25 starts for the Eagles and finished the season with a solid 3.19 ERA over 144 innings. It is worth mentioning that in the 2021 season, he posted an ERA+ of 137 and 129 FIP+ with a decent 22 K% and 6.9 BB%.
- 2020 – 2 games, 10.2 innings. (SK Wyverns)
- 2021 – 25 games, 144 innings. (Hanwha Eagles)
- 2022 – 3 games, 16.1 innings. (Hanwha Eagles)
Prior to his signing with the CTBC Brothers, Nick Kingham was active in the Mexican League, playing for the Diablos Rojos del México. He only started one game, where he allowed two runs on seven hits over five innings of work.
With the signing of Nick Kingham, the Brothers currently have the following foreign players on their active roster: José De Paula, Francisco Peña and Tyler Viza. The Brothers are expected to release Shawn Morimando (elbow surgery) in the next few days in order to make room for Nick Kingham.
Further Readings
Foreign players comes and goes, therefore we compiled a foreign players tracker to keep track of all the foreign players signing for the 2023 CPBL season.