Five Korean players are expected to shine in Japanese pro baseball this
Five Korean players are expected to shine in Japanese pro baseball this season with closer Kim Byung-hyun`s signing with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles Tuesday.
They are pitcher Park Chan-ho, the winningest Asian-born pitcher in the U.S. majors with 124; Lee Seung-yeop of the Orix BlueWave, who holds the Asian single-season record for homers with 56; reliever Kim, who has two World Series rings; Kim Tae-kyun of the Chiba Lotte Marines, who led Team Korea to second place in the second World Baseball Classic; and Lee Beom-ho of the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.
Accomplished Korean baseballers will play in Japan’s Pacific League this season, with Kim signing Tuesday a one-year deal with Rakuten for 33 million yen (402,000 U.S. dollars). If closer Lim Chang-yong of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows is included, six Korean-born players will compete in the Japanese league.
Attention is on whether Kim will follow Lim’s lead. After making his pro debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 1999, Kim went 54-60 with 86 saves over nine seasons in the U.S. with an earned-run average of 4.24.
Kim agreed to join Rakuten for a relatively low salary since he had not played for three years before a short stint in the U.S. minors last year. Chances are high that if Kim recovers his form as shown in the U.S., however, he could see a renaissance like Lim.
In 2008, Lim signed with Yakult for 300,000 dollars in his first year in Japan but later received a three-year deal worth 1.5 billion yen (18.3 million dollars) after last season.
Sluggers Lee Seung-yeop and Kim Tae-kyun will also play first base this season in the Pacific League. Another matter of interest is if Park can make it in Japan as a starting pitcher.
A flurry of new records is also expected in the league. Park needs just seven innings to hit 2,000 for his career.
Fourteen more saves will give Kim 100 overall and 36 more saves by Lim will raise his career tally to 300 in both the Korean and Japanese leagues.
Lee needs just 32 homers to break 500 for his career in both Korea and Japan.
via donga.com