Celebrate Eric Thames' return to MLB by watching him hit home runs for half an hour
On Tuesday, the Brewers inked a three-year deal with Eric Thames, a first baseman you last saw in MLB with the Mariners in 2012. In 130 plate appearances with the team, he hit .220/.256/.439, with six home runs. Then, in 2013, he signed a contract with the KBO's NC Dinos.
He seemed pretty thrilled about it at the time, citing the amazing atmosphere in KBO parks and even offering to pitch if needed. Then, in his first full season, he hit .343/.422/.688 with 37 homers, so we're pretty sure the Dinos were happy with him where he was. But that's just the tip of the iceberg.
As some extremely intelligent and prescient sources have noted, Thames put up video-game numbers in 2015. He slashed .381/.497/.790, with 140 RBIs and a 1.288 OPS. He hit for the cycle twice, became the first member of the KBO's 40-40 club ... and he finished with 47 dingers, no big deal:
I love my job, I love playing in Korea and I love hitting BOMBS.
— Eric Thames 테임즈 (@EricThames) May 16, 2015
Thank you NC 다이노스 fans http://t.co/b5Aj5zAx5W
In fact, if you love watching dudes with excellent beards mash and you have a spare half an hour, you can watch every single one of Thames' 2015 homers here:
If you have slightly less time, watch him hit three home runs in a May '15 game against the Doosan Bears instead:
Quick 30 second video clip of NC's @EricThames three home runs tonight against Doosan https://t.co/0KNWc2m6I9
— Dan Kurtz (@MyKBO) May 26, 2015
In perhaps unsurprising news, Thames was the KBO's 2015 MVP. He came back to earth in 2016, but still put up impressive numbers, slashing .317/.425/.676, with a 1.101 OPS and 40 home runs. We think he'll have a great time with the Brewers in 2017 … but he might have to say farewell to some friends, too:
Today I will try to make these guys proud.@NCdinos_fan @ncdinos_cast
— Eric Thames 테임즈 (@EricThames) April 26, 2015
Fighting! pic.twitter.com/dKO2qALu9F
