Cubs Ink Another Korean Prospect

HT to the Hankook Ilbo.

18-year old righty Kim Jin-yeong signed with the Cubs on Wednesday. He'll get a $1.2 million signing bonus. The Duk-Soo High School product is said to have a 148km fastball(roughly 92 mph).

This isn't really news, but there's a 207 cm tall pitcher at Hyojeon High School. His name is Jang Min-ik. I have no idea where he's going to play next year, but the Korean media seems to think he's the real deal.

Seoul Heroes 11, Doosan 9
W - Song Shin-yeong (3-3), L - Kim Sun-woo (10-9), S - Cho Yong-joon (1)

The Heroes battered Bears pitching in the early innings and managed(barely) to hang on for the W. The Heroes pitching staff tried awfully hard to give Doosan the lead. Heroes 1st baseman Kang Byeong-sik lead the way for the offense. Kang finished 3-5 with 2 walks, a double, 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored. Shortstop Kang Jeong-ho and catcher Kang Gui-tae. I don't think these guys are related, but it sure would be a happy night at the Kang household if they were. Mom and Pop Kang preparing a massive spread and wait for the little Kanglings to come home and tell them about their various RBIs. Questionable MVP cantidate Kim Hyeon-su lead the way for the Bears. Kim went 4-5 with a double, a homer, 3 RBIs and 3 runs scored. Doosan 1st baseman Choi Joon-seok also drove in 3 RBIs.

KIA 5, Hanhwa 3
W - Yang Hyeon-jeong (11-5), L - Eric Junge (1-6), S - Yoo Dong-hoon (18)

KIA was able to get just enough off of foreign punching bag Eric Junge to win this game. I think if anyone on Hanhwa still cared, they would have released Junge a while ago. Choi Hee-seop was on base all night. He finished 1-2 with 3 walks. He scored 2 runs and drove in 1. Shortstop Lee Hyeon-gon drove in a pair. KIA starter Yang Hyeon-jang tossed 6 innings(99 pitches, 57 strikes) of 2-run baseball. He gave up 4 hits, 3 walks and 1 hit batsman while striking out 6. Hanhwa's Kim Tae-gyun drove in a pair for the Eagles. Enjoy it while you can, Eagles fans. The most recent reports have Kim linked with Hanshin of the NPB.

Samsung 11, LG 3
W - Yoon Seong-hwan (13-4), L - Lee Seung-woo (0-2)

The Lions lineup brought the thump and Samsung starter Yoon Seong-hwan gave the bullpen a much needed night off. Samsung rallied for 5 runs in the 4th inning. 3rd baseman Park Seok-min, 1st baseman Chae Tae-in and shortstop Park Jin-man all doubled during the inning. Samsung outfielder Kang Bong-gyu lead the offense with a 2-4, 5 RBI performance. LG started supposed phenom Lee Seung-woo, but unlike his first two appearances he managed to pitch into the 4th inning this time. Progress! Samsung starter Yoon Seong-hwan tossed a complete game(115 pitches, 84! strikes). Yoon gave up only 7 hits and 1 walk while striking out 8.

4/24 Roundup and News

The Joongang Daily's Jee-ho is taking a break from writing about North Korea with "The Spin." This time he dishes on the dispute between the KBO and its various broadcasting partners. Must read.

The Joongang Daily also gives us a write up on one of the bigger high school tournaments. I can't believe there is really a 6'8 pitcher in Korea. I've seen a few large Korean baseball players, but none at 6'8. I could see this guy generating a lot of overseas interest.

On to the roundup...

Samsung 4, LG 1
W - Francisco Cruceta(1-2), L - Shim Su-chang(1-2), S - Oh Seung-hwan (5)

LG outfielder Ahn Chi-yong drove in a run on an RBI single in the first inning and that was all the offense LG was able to muster against Cruceta. Cruceta worked 6 solid innings(92 pitches, 53 strikes). He allowed only the 1 run on 4 hits and 1 walk. He appeared to pitch more to contact in this game and only tallied 3 K's. Samsung rallied for 4 runs in the 6th inning. Samsung 1B Chae Tae-in hit a 2-run single to put Samsung on the board. CF Park Han-yi and SS Park Jin-man also drove in runs in the inning. Oh Seung-hwan tossed a scoreless 9th to tie for the league lead in saves. Reports of his demise were terribly premature.

Hanwha 7, Seoul Heroes 6
W - Kim Hyeok-min(2-1), L - Jang Won-sam(0-2)

Didn't Jang Won-sam used to be good? He appeared to be as good as some of the other young, hard throwing lefties in the KBO last season. This year not so much. He left this game with a 6.38 ERA and 1.80 WHIP. If the Heroes want to even fake contending, Jang needs to get the results he got last season. Last night he was battered for 5 runs in 4 1/3 innings pitched(94 pitches, 62 strikes). He allowed 7 hits and 2 walks with 6 K's, but 2 of the hits went beyond the fences. As poor as Jang was on the mound, Doug Clark was excellent at the plate. The Heroes center fielder went 5-5 with a double, a homer, a stolen base, 4 RBI and 2 runs scored. He was Mr. Everything for the Seoul Heroes. His homer was part of a fake rally in the 9th inning. With the score 7-3 and the game looking very much in doubt, the Heroes fake rallied there way to a 7-6 loss. A 7-6 loss looks better than a 7-3 loss. At the plate for Hanwha, Kim Tae-gyun clubbed his 5th homer of the season.

SK 8, Lotte 2
W - Ken Kadokura(1-0), L - Cho Jeong-hoon(2-2)

Ken Kadokura turned in a very nice effort in his first KBO start. Kadokura worked 6 2/3 innings(91 pitches, 59 strikes) of 1 run baseball on six hits. He struck out 4 and didn't walk anyone. Park Jae-hong stole the headline from Kadokura by recording his 250th stolen base. Park is now the only player in the history of the KBO to record 250 homers and stolen bases. If only we had video footage of this historic event. He doesn't turn 36 until September, but he'd have to rack up at least 30 steals if he wanted to even have an outside shot of reaching 300/300. He hasn't stolen more than 20 bases in a season since 2006. He should be able to get to 300 homers sometime next year. He's currently got 277 career homers. He needs 9 more RBIs to reach 1000. Lotte starter Cho Joeng-hoon ran out of gas in the 5th inning. After being shutout for 4 innings, SK exploded for 6 runs in the 5th. SK outfielder Park Jeong-kwon hit a key homer that busted the inning wide open.

Doosan 3, KIA 0
W - Lee Jae-woo(1-0), L - Yim Joon-hyeok(0-1), S - Lee Yong chan(5)

This is the third day in a row that Doosan has won the game in the late innings. This time, Doosan and KIA were locked in a 0-0 tie that went into the 10th inning. In the top of the 10th, Doosan rallied for 3 runs off of the KIA bullpen. Kim Dong-joo scored on Jeong Soo-bin's RBI triple. After a walk to Koh Yeong-min, Jeong was driven in by SS Son Si-hyeon. Finally, Choi Seung-hwan drove in Koh on an RBI double. KIA bullpen Meltdown...complete. Doosan reliever Jin Ya-kob was asked to start and he did his best. Jin worked 4 scoreless innings(62 pitches, 40 strikes) for the Bears. He allowed only 3 hits and 2 walks with 2 K's. Senor Smoke, Aquilino Lopez, tossed 7 shutout innings(115 pitches, 68 strikes) for the Tigers. He allowed 6 hits and 3 walks with 5 K's, but sadly couldn't get any help from his offense.

7/29 Roundup and News

The Cubs signed another Korean guy. I hope he gets traded, for his sake.

On to the roundup...

Lotte 4, Doosan 3
W - Kang Yeong-sik(5-2), L - Justin Lehr(0-6)

Doosan held a 3-0 lead heading into the top of the 9th inning, but Lotte was able to mount a 3-run rally and take the game into extras. Kim Ju-chan started the inning right with a basehit to left. Kim was forced at 2nd when Jo Seong-hwan hit a grounder to short for the 1st out. Lee Dae-ho slapped a single into right to put runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. Kim Min-sang came on to pinch run for Lee. Both runners advanced on a passed ball. Karim Garcia poked a single past the outstretched glove of the Doosan first baseman to drive in both runners. Seo Jeong-ho came in to pinch run for Garcia. Justin Lehr botched a pickoff attempt to advance the runner to all the way to third with one out. Kang Min-ho hit a sac fly to center to plate the tying run. In the top of the tenth, Lee Seung-hwa singled to center to put a runner on with one out. Lee In-gu singled to left to put runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. Kim Joo-chan hit a ball over the centerfielder's head for a basehit and to score the go ahead run. Lotte was unable to plate any other runners. Kang Yeong-sik stayed in to face Doosan in the bottom of the 10th and put all 3 Bears down in order to earn the W.

Hanhwa 10, Woori 6
W - Ahn Yeong-myeong(7-0), L - Ma Il-yeong(9-7)

Woori ace, Ma Il-yeong was simply awful last night. In his 5 innings(104 pitches, 55 strikes) of work he allowed 7 runs on 10 hits and 4 walks with only 1 K. Hanhwa's Song Kwang-min, Doug Clark, Kim Tae-gyun and Kim Tae-won had 2 RBI each last night. Woori actually held a 6-2 advantage in the 6th inning, but a 6-run rally from the Eagles erased the deficit and gave Hanhwa the lead last night. Cliff Brumbaugh and Jeon Joon-ho both hit solo homers for the Heroes last night.

Samsung 6, SK 3
W - Bae Yong-su(7-6), L - Kim Kwang-hyeon(11-4), S - Oh Seung-hwan(26)

I guess Kenny Ray was dropped by SK because Esteban Yan showed up last night in an SK uni.

Thanks to a solo homer from Choi Hyeong-woo, Samsung carried a 2-1 advantage into the 8th inning. In the 8th, Samsung rallied for 4 runs with the big hit coming again from Choi Hyeong-woo. Choi drilled a pitch into center for a single. Choi drove in the first run of the 8th inning and put runners at the corners with no outs. SK did offer a fake rally in the top of the 9th. Jeong Song-ho hit a two-run blast to make the game a save opportunity for Oh Seung-hwan. Oh retired the last batter on 4 pitches.

Kim Kwang-hyeon was given the hook after the third inning. In 3 innings of work, Kim threw 66 pitches(36 strikes) allowing 2 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks with 3 K's.

KIA 5, LG 0
W - Kane Davis(2-1), L - Chris Oxspring(8-8)

Kane Davis turned in his finest performance of the season last night. Davis tossed 8 shutout innings(102 pitches, 60 strikes) allowing only 1 hit and two walks while striking out 6. Chris Oxspring allowed all 5 Tigers runs last night. A two-run homer from KIA catcher, Lee Jae-joo, chased Oxspring from the game.