Irvine Offseason PR: A Farewell to Chwa

The Irvine organization made a tough decision to finally cut ties with one of their longest tenured veterans in the offseason due to needing to create space for some younger pitchers as well as an effort to reduce payroll. Chwa was a beloved figure in Irvine and fans were up in arms upon learning of his trade – and most fans weren’t impressed he was traded for two international guys since everyone knows they almost never pan out.  However, Chwa did stay in the same general location and Chwa’s many fans will still be able to watch him pitch with Vista.

Chwa appeared quite choked up when he spoke with the media about the trade, “I’ve had a good run here in Irvine and the fans are the best; I’ll miss them. The World Series playoff run was a postseason to remember – particularly the 10 inning no hitter against Baffin Island!”

“Unlike outfielder Jorge Campos who left in free agency after demanding 20 mil a year and then signing with bitter division rival SoCal, Chwa will always be welcome to return to Irvine and we expect that we’ll retire his number when he chooses to hang up his cleats,” stated GM Rice.

Highlights of Chwa’s decade of brilliance for Irvine:

1. Selected third overall in the 2013 draft by Irvine.
2. Pitched a perfect game against SF in 2021.
3. Was selected as an allstar for the first time in 2021 – and was named an all star 5 seasons in that decade – probably would have been a sixth year if not for Plymouth’s wailing and gnashing of teeth…
4. Won 22 games in 2026 – the year of the World Series
5. Including the postseason, Chwa won over 150 games for Irvine and was an innings eater out there on the mound.
6. Career average of 3.18 ERA, 6.6 K/9, 1.05 WHIP, and 71% quality start.
7. Pitched a 10 inning no hitter against Baffin Island in 2026 with only 101 pitches winning the MVP of the Series in the process.
8. Remarkably, despite his workhorse tendencies, he was hurt only once in his 10 years with Irvine and was minor back stiffness which caused him to be out for 1 day.
9. Chwa ranks fourth among qualified Irvine pitchers in franchise history in ERA behind notables Scott Hill and Masutaro Koyama, second in wins for Irvine in his career behind only Koyama, second in WAR, currently second in games started for the franchise, second in complete games with 32, is the leader in BB/9 over even Koyama, and is second in strikeouts with 1700. (FYI, Scott Hill was only with the franchise during the pre-sim days and was not really part of the team when human managers were in charge but his stats still stand in the team history).