This photo shows former Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions pitcher Mario Sanchez, who signed with the South Korean club Kia Tigers on Thursday. (Chinese Professional Baseball League website)

The S. Korean baseball club Kia Tigers announced Thursday they have signed new pitcher Mario Sanchez.

The Korea Baseball Organization club acquired the Venezuelan right-hander for $280,000 for the rest of the season, and the move comes two days after releasing slumping starter, Adonis Medina.

Sanchez, 28, comes over from Taiwan, where he'd been pitching for the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions in the Chinese Professional Baseball League.

He was leading the CPBL with a 1.44 ERA and was tied for the lead with eight wins before deciding to take his talent to S. Korea.

In the US minors, Sanchez had a 44-33 record and a 3.94 ERA in 210 appearances.

Through Wednesday's games, the Tigers ranked ninth among 10 teams in the KBO at 31-38-1 (wins-losses-ties), 3.5 games out of the fifth and final postseason berth.

The Tigers were a wild card team last year after missing the postseason from 2019 to 2021.

KBO teams can each carry up to three foreign players and no more than two pitchers. Shaun Anderson is the other foreign pitcher for the Tigers this year. He has gone 4-7 with a 3.76 ERA in 14 starts and spent 10 days in the minors starting in late May after pitching to a 7.71 ERA in four starts that month. (Yonhap)