Kurikka moves to the successful club of the ABL league, Brisbane Bandits, where there is enough competition for pitchers’ spots.
Year then ended his baseball career in Sotkamon Jymy Konsta Kurikka took a big step in the related sport of baseball on Thursday, when the 21-year-old Finn signed a professional contract with Australia’s high-level ABL league.
During the last year, Kurikka, who played in Spain and the German Bundesliga, will move to the successful ABL club Brisbane Bandits, where there is enough competition for pitchers’ spots.
Kurikka has said that it is his dream to play in the American top league, MLB. In Australia, the dream is at least a little closer. The ABL league has been played since 2010, and over the years a total of 43 players have progressed from the league to the MLB.
“Yes after all, it’s a big number if about four players per year go from there to the MLB. It tells about the level of the Australian league, because there are not many leagues in the world from which you can get directly to the MLB. If you look at the player mass of the entire sport, the probability percentages (to MLB) are very small”, reflects Kurikka, who is from Juva.
Kurikka has heard from his teammates who played in Australia that Brisbane is the “New York Yankees of Australia”. MLB owns part of the ABL, so there are a lot of American players in the league.
“Brisbane is successful (four league titles) and a legendary club there. I saw that even about half of the team is Yankees. I will certainly get to play in the team, but to what extent, it is still impossible to say. In any case, the league is tough, and this is a big step in my career,” says Kurikka.
The ABL season starts in November and ends in February.
Paddle says that he has developed a lot in the past year in his passing work, even though the Juva native was already striking with his ferocious throwing hand.
Kurikka lays down passes at his best at a speed of over 150 kilometers per hour, which stands up to international comparisons.
The Finnish player received assists from his teammate in Germany From Zac Treecewho has played on professional courts for ten years.
“When you look at videos of my own serving from a year ago, it was pretty basic, but I have received a lot of tips from good serving coaches. I have got fastball i.e. alongside the direct and hard pass as well breaking balls i.e. spiral feeds. I have developed quite a lot in them”, explains Kurikka.
Kurikka no longer invests in hitting.
“Pitchers don’t have to hit. I have some distance behind Yankee players of the same age, so I try to catch up in passing and leave the hitting to others.”
to Australia with the signed professional contract, Kurikka can no longer play in the American college leagues, which are naturally a suitable stepping stone to the MLB.
“I now saw going to the professional league as a more reasonable option, because there was no certainty of even getting a university contract. Sometimes doors have to be closed in order for new doors to open”, Kurikka acknowledges.
Next February, Kurikka will also face a tough challenge in the new UIBL baseball series aimed at Asia in the future, whose founding members include, among others, the Yankees’ pitching legend Mariano Rivera. According to Kurika, the UIBL selected him for the exhibition tournament organized in Dubai, where several MLB players will also arrive.
“They were interested in my story and wanted me to join. Now I have to do some work in Brisbane in the winter so that I can put in the clothes there.”
Read more: Konsta Kurikka, aiming for the American professional league, is changing countries: “I need more hard work”
Read more: Friends in Spain laugh at Konsta Kurika’s videos, but soon the smile can freeze: “You shouldn’t blink, or the whole pass will be missed”
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