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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
A flurry of new records is also expected in the league. Park needs just seven innings to hit 2,000 for his career.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Lee needs just 32 homers to break 500 for his career in both Korea and Japan.<\/p>\n
via donga.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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