Samsung Lions sign ex-MLB pitcher Austin Voth as injury replacement

The Samsung Lions signed former major league pitcher Austin Voth as their short-term injury replacement Monday.

The Lions said Voth will make US$150,000 on a six-week contract as a temporary fill-in for starter Ariel Jurado.

Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) clubs are allowed to sign replacements for injured foreign players who are sidelined for six weeks or longer.

Jurado was diagnosed with shoulder inflammation last week and is expected to be out at least six weeks. The Panamanian workhorse is third in the KBO with 107 innings pitched and sixth with a 3.11 ERA.

Voth, 34, logged 210 games in Major League Baseball (MLB), including 39 starts, while pitching for five clubs. Most recently, he pitched in two games for the Toronto Blue Jays and one game for the Minnesota Twins this year.

For his MLB career, Voth went 17-20 with a 4.84 ERA in 370 1/3 innings.

In Triple-A, the American right-hander compiled an 18-33 record with a 4.22 ERA in 99 appearances including 91 starts.

He pitched for the Japanese club Chiba Lotte Marines in 2025, going 3-9 with a 3.96 ERA in 22 games.

Voth has six pitches in his arsenal -- four-seam fastball, cutter, sweeper, curveball, sinker and splitter.

The Lions said Voth passed his physical in South Korea recently and will join the rotation soon.

The Lions are in first place with a 53-33-2 (wins-losses-ties) record, leading the KT Wiz by two games. They have the second-lowest team ERA at 4.11.

The Lions' rotation also added a new piece in former major leaguer Chris Paddack on July 11. Paddack threw six innings of one-run ball in his KBO debut on Saturday against the Lotte Giants.