[MyDaily = Reporter Jin-seong Kim] Is this the final ultimatum?
On May 11, the KIA Tigers informed their Asia-quota infielder Jared Dale (26) that he would be sent to the minors. The move carries weight. In 34 games this season, Dale is 30-for-117 (.256) with 1 home run, 6 RBIs, 20 runs, 1 stolen base, a .316 slugging percentage, a .328 on-base percentage and a .644 OPS. His batting average with runners in scoring position sits at just .174.
He’s been worse lately: over his last 10 games, Dale is 4-for-29 (.138) with 4 runs. Manager Lee Beom-ho plans to have him spend at least 10 days in the minors to regroup before bringing him back up. Frankly, he hasn’t provided much help to the club in recent weeks.
At the Amami-Oshima spring camp in February, Lee said he expected Dale to hit around .260–.270 with roughly 15 homers. But KIA’s bigger hope was what he would do on defense. The club wanted him to plug the defensive hole left by Park Chan-ho (31, Doosan Bears). Offense was viewed as a bonus.
Offensively, Dale hasn’t been a threat. He doesn’t consistently drive the ball into the outfield. He handles bunting and situational hitting well, which is valuable, but his overall production has been lacking.
Worryingly, defense has become the bigger concern. His defense has been shaky and he’s already committed nine errors — the most in the league.
Kim Seong-pyo, a former Samsung Lions infielder and academy coach, appeared recently on Oh Seung-hwan’s YouTube channel "Oh Seung-hwan FINAL BOSS." Watching Dale’s defense, Kim said, "I’m not in a position to pass judgment, but to me his movements look a bit slow for a shortstop."
Kim still advised KIA to trust Dale, but the club opted to give him time in the minors. Reviewing his nine errors shows several came on routine plays. He clearly has good hands, yet he’s been prone to those subtle, frequent mistakes.
KIA may soon face a tough decision. This demotion doesn’t automatically mean Dale will be released, but if his play on both offense and defense doesn’t noticeably improve after he returns, the team may have to consider a change. They can replace an Asia-quota player midseason.
It’s mid-May — the tail end of the season’s opening phase — and KIA is, as expected, fighting around the middle of the standings. To spark a turnaround now, the realistic option is changing a foreign player. Swapping their reliable foreign one-two punch makes little sense, and one of their foreign hitters already required a replacement due to injury. Realistically, Dale could be one of the cards to try to reverse the trend.
This season, Park Min and Jeong Hyun-chang have shown steady two-way improvement. If KIA moves on from Dale during the season, they might pursue a pitcher to shift momentum — starter or reliever, pitching is always in demand and KIA is no exception.
That said, replacing an Asia-quota player doesn’t guarantee success. There’s no certainty a quality Asia-quota option will be available midseason. So far this year, the clubs that have benefited from their Asia-quota picks are mainly the LG Twins (Lachlan Wells) and the Hanwha Eagles (Wang Yencheng).
With that in mind, KIA needs to find a way to revive Dale. It’s critical he rebuilds both offensively and defensively in the minors and returns to the first team showing clear improvement. A strong rebound from Dale would be the cleanest solution for KIA — but whether that happens remains to be seen.
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