Padres' Free Agent Acquisition Begins Season at Double-A

San Diego Padres' South Korean pitcher Woo-Suk Go starts the season in Double-A San Antonio after a challenging major league spring.

Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

San Diego Padres reliever Woo-Suk Go will begin the season in Double-A San Antonio.

Go had a solid seven seasons in South Korea and was the closer for the Korean National Team at the World Baseball Classic in 2023. But the right-hander struggled in his first major league spring training. In six games with the Padres, Go surrendered nine runs (seven earned) on 11 hits across five innings. He finished Cactus League play with an ERA of 12.60 and a record of 0-2 with a blown save.

Go was optioned to Triple-A El Paso on March 19, a day before the Padres played the Los Angeles Dodgers in South Korea. Manager Mike Shildt believes Go will help the big league club at some point, and having the conversation about sending him to the minor leagues was tough.

"He took it very professionally," Shildt said at his pregame press conference in Seoul on March 20. "Ultimately, it came down to a couple of things. We've got some depth in our bullpen. That was a big part of the decision. And him getting a little bit of a later start to his offseason, relative to being able to go pitch in the regular season over here, just didn't allow him to get built up maybe as quickly as some of the other guys in the camp."

Go signed a two-year, $4.5 million contract with the Padres in January but his offseason was shorter than most of the league. He was still pitching in the Korea Baseball Organization with the LG Twins into mid-November, when the Twins wrapped up the Korean Series title.

Being demoted shouldn't be discouraging for Go. The Padres are trying to put their rookie pitcher in the best position to succeed and Shildt expects him to be back with the big league club if he follows his manager's advice.

"Just continue to progress, continue to work on the shape of your pitches, continue to work on getting your command and your pitches working together," Shildt said. "Do that and you'll be back."