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Wiz pitcher Caleb Boushley's wide repertoire flummoxes KBO batters

Published: 22 Apr. 2026, 14:31 Updated: 22 Apr. 2026, 18:35

KT Wiz’s Caleb Boushley delivers a pitch as the starting pitcher during a KBO League game against the Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon on March 31. [NEWS1]

CHANGWON — Caleb Boushley of the KT Wiz has emerged as one of the early standout pitchers in the KBO for a simple reason: he throws far more kinds of pitches than most of his peers, and hitters have struggled to keep up.

The right-hander from Wisconsin has been dominant over the past month, winning all four of his starts while allowing just two earned runs over 23 innings for a 0.78 ERA. His unusually varied arsenal — on full display in the detailed pitch charts teams release after every game — has made him a difficult read for opposing lineups.

Game day is when starting pitchers in the KBO reveal what is usually treated as a trade secret in real time. The pitch charts distributed to reporters by each club lay out, inning by inning, every pitch type and velocity thrown — offering a close-up into how a pitcher mixes his arsenal.

Some charts stand out for how crowded they are. They belong to pitchers with unusually wide repertoires, which include Boushley.

His greatest weapon is variety. He leans on a two-seam fastball but mixes in a sweeper, changeup, curveball, cutter and four-seam fastball. In a 103-pitch outing against the Doosan Bears on April 12 in Suwon, Gyeonggi, he threw just two four-seamers. Instead, he relied heavily on his two-seamer (41 pitches) and sweeper (32), while mixing in around 10 each of his changeup, curve and cutter.

The breadth of his arsenal has drawn comparisons to Cho Kye-hyun, the former Haitai Tigers pitcher known as an “eight-color” arm for his ability to throw nearly 10 different pitch types at his peak.

“I only knew how to throw a fastball and curve when I first entered the minor leagues in 2017,” Boushley said in an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo in Changwon, South Gyeongsang, on April 15. “To survive the competition, I added a changeup, and then developed a two-seamer and cutter one by one.”

He said adapting to the KBO has further underscored the need for variety.

“KBO hitters are very good at making contact, even with two strikes,” Boushley said. “That’s why the two-seamer and sweeper play an important role. They start on the same trajectory, but the two-seamer moves in on right-handed hitters, while the sweeper breaks away, which creates confusion.”

KT Wiz’s Caleb Boushley during a KBO League game against the Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon on March 31 [NEWS1]

His evolving pitch mix also reflects an unusually studious approach for a veteran player.

“Even though he’s not young, he still has a strong desire to change,” said Je Chun-mo, KT Wiz’s pitching coach. “He takes meticulous notes and is always trying to adjust even the pitches he already throws. Recently, after talking with manager Lee Kang-chul, he lowered the velocity of his changeup and completely changed the grip.”

The sweeper he now relies on has an unusual lineage. It traces back to Shohei Ohtani, the Los Angeles Dodgers star. Boushley learned the pitch from his KT teammate Matt Sauer, who had previously picked it up while playing with Ohtani in the Dodgers organization.

“Boushley was able to pick up the sweeper quickly using his natural feel for the ball,” said Lee. “Ironically, Sauer hasn’t quite mastered the pitch himself,” he added with a laugh.

The fifth of seven siblings, Boushley was introduced to baseball through his older sisters, who played softball. He steadily worked his way up the ranks and fulfilled a childhood dream in 2023 when he put on the uniform of the Milwaukee Brewers, a team he had long supported.

Now beginning a new chapter in Korea, he has set his sights on a championship.

“I’ll compete with a diverse mix of pitches to help take this team to the Korean Series,” Boushley said.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KO BONG-JUN [[email protected]]