KBO left-hander Kwang-hyun Kim is expected to be posted by his parent club, the SK Wyverns, this offseason, and early indications are that he’ll be something of a hot commodity. Several MLB scouts are quoted in praise of Kim’s abilities in a Saturday article from Yoo Jee-ho of Yonhap News Agency, with several expressing optimism toward Kim’s chances of securing a rotation job (link). According to Jee-ho, Kim said Friday that he’d like to negotiate with teams that will give him an opportunity to start.
Three MLB scouts were quoted on the condition of anonymity in the above-linked piece, with the first evaluator opining that there will be “more than enough” teams willing to offer Kim a rotation spot (this scout also voiced a preference for Kim over Josh Lindblom, another star KBO pitcher expected to come stateside this offseason). A second scout described Kim’s slider and curve as “filthy” while placing a slightly above-average grade on the 31-year-old’s fastball. “If Kim is willing to settle for a relief role, he’ll certainly get a big league job,” said yet a third scout. “He could be a starter on a middling team.”
Kim’s own stated preference toward starting should help determine his ultimate destination. Yesterday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic relayed that the Mets, Royals, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, and Cubs were among teams showing early interest. All of those teams could use another good arm on hand (who couldn’t?), but the Dodgers, in particular, don’t stand out as a team in dire need of starting depth. The club’s young pitching, to say nothing of veterans like Clayton Kershaw and Kenta Maeda, would seem to leave their rotation well spoken for, but it’s amusing to ponder if LA could allow Hyun-Jin Ryu, another former left-handed star of the KBO, to walk while securing Kim as a speculative starting replacement.
The Diamondbacks, meanwhile, certainly profile as a recently middle-of-the-pack team that has shown a willingness to gamble on the ability of a pitcher to translate their success to American soil. It was just last offseason that GM Mike Hazen signed pitcher Merrill Kelly to a two-year, $5.5MM guaranteed contract with consecutive club options valued at $4.25MM and $5.25MM. Like Kim, Kelly isn’t a particularly hard thrower, with a fastball sitting around 92 mph, but he was still able to parlay a four-year run of KBO success into a multi-year contract followed by a generally acceptable 2019 rookie year (4.42 ERA across 32 starts). The ’Backs can’t be described as an especially pitching-needy team, but recent rumors around the name of lefty Robbie Ray could foreshadow an upcoming job opening in the Arizona rotation.
Kim threw to a 2.51 ERA in 191.1 innings with the Wyverns in 2019, continuing a career that, aside from a 2017 Tommy John procedure, has largely been immaculate. Since debuting in 2007 at the age of 18, the left-hander owns a 3.27 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 1,673 2/3 career innings. Though Kim was unable to come to an accord with the Padres after his posting in 2014, it’s beginning to appear that his continued success, combined with a particularly pitching-hungry free-agent market, could soon lead to his long-awaited MLB debut.
I think Kim has a chance to be a surprisingly effective pitcher next season in the Majors. Interestingly he’s actually significantly improved (statistically) since his TJ surgery 2 seasons ago and has posted very impressive numbers the past 2 seasons. In a league that offense usually dominates putting up a 2.51 ERA is no small feat. Given that the offense in the Korean league is probably a bit better than AAA offenses – I could definitely see Kim settling into a mid 3’s ERA as a starter or even a mid 2’s if he were willing to accept a relief role. Regardless it seems as though he’ll certainly get his shot at the majors this off-season and it’ll be interesting to see how he fares in the upcoming MLB season.
It seems that very few of these Korean and Japanese pitchers throw as hard as top major league guys and they don’t seem to have superlative strike out stats. Some if them are very good pitchers but I wonder why there seems to be a lower percentageof power pitching strikeout pitchers there. Do they not focus on that as much? I know that in Japan the strike zone is smaller so that might contribute. I’d love to see an Asian pitcher one day that has Justin Verlander/Aroldis Chapman type power.
Otani can reach that type of speed when healthy.
I didn’t know about the smaller strike zone in Japan. That would certainly reduce punchouts.
Yu Darvish got 229 K’s in 178 IP last year.
Ryu had 163 in 182 IP.
Ohtani had 63 in 51 IP
angels should grab and place him in 3 or 4 spot in the rotation.
Any pitcher not with a qualifying offer should be on there radar, to match with the couple that are. They definitely need at least 2-3 starting pitchers this offseason.
Agreed, they should be all over this
He has similar (if not better – the last 2 seasons at least) numbers to Ryu and Ryu has been quite effective (when healthy) for the Dodgers since coming over from the KBO — so I think he could definitely pitch as well as Ryu has.
Yeah mlb stats and KBO stats are equal.
I’m guessing the OP is referring to Hyun-Jin Ryu’s KBO numbers, not his last two seasons here.
He clearly states that he is referring to the last two seasons, so that would indicate he is comparing Ryu’s MLB stats to those of Kim’s KBO stats.I am just going by how he structured his post, though.
Given that he immediately speaks of Ryu’s effectiveness in MLB, I again say he means Ryu’s KBO seasons in comparison.
Especially since Ryu’s last two MLB seasons are in no way bested by the numbers offered my MLBTR in the article. Ryu’s KBO numbers vs. Kim’s, translating to Kim being effective in MLB as Ryu has.
Kim is about as good as Ryu was in the KBO, perhaps even better in his last two seasons. Since Ryu has come to MLB and continued to be effective, this possibly bodes well for Kim making the transition.
That’s my read of the comment. My only adjustment is I thought the OP was meaning Ryu’s last two years in KBO, whereas now I do think he meant Kim’s last two years.
He sounds like an interesting option for the Angels.
If we trade away Robbie this guy becomes a starter in the desert.
He’ll be opening day starter in Pittsburgh
Looks like he’d be a good addition wherever he lands.
Every single year he’s been healthy since 2014 he’s improved his walk rate and his K/BB rates. Based on his last four seasons I’d expect K/BB rates similar to his former teammate Merrill Kelly’s but slightly better due to his improved control he has demonstrated in the last two years. I’d also expect a low end #3 to a high end #4 starting pitcher kind of performance. Whereas I’d feel more comfortable with Lindblom who could be a #3 starter thanks to better K/BB rates.
The Jays have the inside track. You heard it here first.
Atkins/Shapiro should be champing at the bit. I have no idea what the projections call for, but I think 4/24 front-loaded could get the job done. Am I over/under valuing Kim?
How much wear and tear does he have? he’s been on the mound since his late teens. does a team want to throw money around on a 31 yr old from another league? if he was in his mid 20s, is say go for it, but the age just makes me want to back away. How many quality years are you going to get?
who said anyone is going to throw money at him? my guess is his salary per season will be $3 mil max for the first contract. if he proves his value, who know what kind of deal he gets.
…no. Let him sign elsewhere. You have a rotation of Kershaw, Buehler, Maeda, Stripling, May, Gonsolin, Santana etc. we don’t need another starter. We’re stacked! Go after relief and another catcher!