Pitcher Ko Woo-seok's Suspension Reduced to 8 Games on Appeal

Ko Woo-seok, a pitcher for the Minnesota Twins' Triple-A team, has had his suspension reduced following an appeal. He was initially handed a 10-game ban for alleged foreign substance use in his glove during a game on March 24th. The substance, found during a pre-game inspection, led to his immediate ejection without throwing a single pitch.

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The foreign substance on the glove was not intentionally applied but formed from hardened sweat and rosin.

Ko Woo-seok vehemently denied intentional wrongdoing, stating on social media that the substance was a hardened mixture of sweat and rosin that had accumulated over time. He emphasized that the glove had been used in numerous games since the 2023 World Baseball Classic without issue and that the substance was difficult to remove, asserting it could not have affected his pitching.

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The part claimed to be a foreign substance was so hardened that it could only be scraped off with a fingernail, and it was impossible to remove and there was no reason to remove it.

Despite the MLB's enhanced crackdown on foreign substances, Ko Woo-seok's appeal resulted in a reduction of two games, bringing his suspension to eight games. While the MLB did not publicly disclose the reasons for the reduction, it is understood that Ko Woo-seok's arguments were partially accepted. This decision allows him to resume playing on April 4th.

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I am confident that there is no possibility that it affected my pitching.