Former Pittsburgh Pirates Reliever Lands Deal With KBO's KIA Tigers

Crowe initially came up as a starting pitcher, drawing the start in all three of his appearances with the Nationals in 2020. After he and pitching prospect Eddy Yean were traded to Pittsburgh in exchange for Josh Bell that December, Crowe made 25 starts in 2021.

That year, Crowe went 4-8 with a 5.48 ERA, 1.569 WHIP and 0.1 WAR. He ranked second on the Pirates with 116.2 innings.

The Pirates moved Crowe to the bullpen in 2022, when he made 60 appearances and finished 20 games. He went 6-10 with a 4.38 ERA, 1.395 WHIP and 0.1 WAR.

Crowe was poised to hold down a major relief role again in 2023, when he appeared in five of Pittsburgh's first 17 games. Crowe experienced shoulder discomfort in April, though, and he wound up on the 60-day injured list.

The Pirates optioned Crowe to Triple-A upon his recovery in July, and he didn't return to the majors for the rest of the year. The club released Crowe in November.

Rather than sticking it out as a fringe reliever in MLB, Crowe will be cashing the biggest paycheck of his career over in Korea, and he may get the chance to start again. The Tigers had four former major leaguers on their pitching staff next year, including Shaun Anderson, Adonis Medina and Thomas Pannone.

Crowe has a 5.30 ERA in his MLB career, compared to his 4.01 lifetime mark in the minors.