Many players are fascinated by the diversified professional baseball stage, among which South Korea has also sent more than 20 baseball stars to this top event. Today, let’s take a look at what well-known Korean players in the major leagues!
Kim Ha-Seong Kim
Kim Ha-Seong, who is only 26 years old this year, is the star of hope for the new generation of Korean players. Before coming to the major leagues, he had a prestigious in the Korean professional baseball team with his excellent athletic ability and garrison level, which naturally attracted the attention of many major league teams. In the 2021 season, the San Diego Padres brought him to the major leagues. His first season was mediocre and his garrison ability was pretty good, but the Padres had a lot of stars in the infield, so he could only wander back and forth in the second base guerrilla and third base positions. The strike performance was not good, with only 20% of the strike rate of nearly 300 seats.
However, Fernando Tatis Jr.'s injury and suspension in the 2022 season gave Kim Hecheng enough stage to play. got more play seats and his strike performance has improved by leaps and bounds, and the season's base rate has reached 33% . In terms of defense, after being fixed in the guerrilla position, Kim Ha-sen's top-level defense ability is even more radiant. He has won 7DRS so far in the season and has ranked among the top ten in the guerrilla position of the major leagues. So far this season, he has won 3.9WAR so far, second only to the team's star third baseman Manny Machado.
Hyun Jin Ryu (Hyun Jin Ryu)
Genius left-handed Liu Xianzhen's major league journey didn't even need to adapt to it. In his debut in 2013, he faced San Francisco GiantsStarting 6.1 innings, he scored 5 strikeouts without a walk and only 1 echo. In the same year, it was recognized by the league - won the fourth place in rookie of the year . During this year, he started in 30 games to win 14 wins and 8 losses in , with an ERA of only 3.00.
Although Dodges often suffered from injuries during his six-year career, this did not affect his ball skills at all. His excellent ball control and extremely low walk rate gave hitters a headache. 's average ERA in six years was only 2.98. In 2019, 32-year-old Liu Xianzhen became the trump card in the Dodges' starting rotation and was selected as the All-Star for the first time in his career. season 2.32 ERA leads all the starting pitchers of the National League, winning the second place in the Cy Young Award , only losing to Jacob deGrom who struck out that year.
After the big contract was transferred to the Blue Birds, Liu Xianzhen's level remained unabated, and ranked among the top three in the Cy Young Awards for two consecutive years . But the years are still gradually showing traces on him. Compared with Liu Xianzhen when he was young, his suppression is no longer as strong now. At present, Liu Xianzhen ended the 2022 season early due to elbow surgery. He hopes to see the healthy "Liu Pang" return in full blood next year.
Cui Zhiwan (Ji-Man Choi)
31-year-old Cui Zhiwan is a veteran of the seven seasons of the major leagues. After moving to several teams in the early stage of his career, he finally gained a foothold in Tampa Bay Light and became the team's main first baseman. In terms of strikes, he has both ball selection and long-term play skills. He has been a seven-year career in , and his strike results in the last six years are above the league average. On the garrison of , the "Flexible Fat Man" has become more and more exquisite after years of training in the major leagues.
In 2019, 28-year-old Cui Zhiwan ushered in his career year. hit 107 hits and 19 home runs in 127 games, contributing 63 RBIs , helping Light to enter the playoffs of the same year. In the 2020 AFC Champions Series, in the duel between Light and Astros, Cui Zhiwan contributed 5 hits and 4 walks in 17 games, and 's base rate exceeded 50%, and his performance was quite impressive.
Sin-Soo Choo (Sin-Soo Choo)
This well-known Korean strong player was actually famous for his pitcher in the early stages of his career. He played in the World Junior Championships and the United States series and contributed 33 strikeouts and was elected as the series MVP.Qiu Xinshou debuted in the major league in 2005 and became an outfielder. He has been in four teams for 16 years. has contributed more than 20 times in seven seasons. He was selected as an All-Star in 2018 and won MVP votes in 2010 and 2013. Qiu Xinshou has both exaggerated 40% of the base rate in both seasons!
Qiu Xinshou has a good ball selection ability and long-term play ability, he is slightly different from ordinary left-handed powerful hitters. He has the ability to hit the ball everywhere in the field. Therefore, the garrison arrangement against left-handed play has little impact on him, which has led to his good performance in career strike measurements.275/.377/.447. It can be said that is the most successful Korean hitter in his major league career so far . At the end of the 2020 season, after the seven-year contract with the Rangers expired, Qiu Xinshou left the major league and returned to his Korean position. At the age of 40, he is still active in the professional baseball field.
Kwang Hyun Kim (Kwang Hyun Kim)
At the end of 2019, St. Louis Cardinals signed Korean ace Kim Guang-hyun with a two-year contract to serve as the team's left-handed starter. Unfortunately, 2020 caught up with the shortened season, but this did not affect his performance. He was unfamiliar with the place and quickly adapted to life in the United States. made the pitcher's first season and started seven games without losing, with an ERA of only 1.62. The second year of the year, due to back injury, some attendance was affected, but the task was completed perfectly in the games. 's two-year major league career was only 2.97!
Although his ball speed is not fast, the control ball is extremely outstanding . A top slide ball is very low in the base position. In addition to the excellent defense of the Cardinals, his ability to build a ground is exactly the Cardinals' favorite . The two complement each other and spent two pleasant years. In March 2022, 34-year-old Kim Gwang-hyun decided not to wait for the major league to resume the game. returned to his old club with the signing fee that broke the Korean career record, and bid farewell to the major league.
Chan Ho Park (Chan Ho Park)
As The first Korean pitcher to appear in the major leagues , Park Chan Ho's experience was tortuous but successful. He is an idol-level benchmark for Korean pitchers such as Wu Shenghuan, Yoo Hyun-jin, and Kim Gwang-hyun. He debuted in the major leagues in 1994, but he didn't have many chances to play at first. He only adapted to the rhythm of the major leagues two years later and became a key player in the Dodgers' rotation since the 1997 season. won 18 shots in a single season in 2000, 217 strikeouts ranked second in the NFC , and was selected as the All-Star in 2001, with 35 starts in the whole season. This was the two most glorious years of his career. At this time, he had won double-digit winnings for five consecutive years. After leaving the Dodge, he went to six teams and kept standing on the pitching mound until 2010 to bid farewell to the major leagues. He played in his career for a total of 4.36 ERAs in 1993 games.
7 years of super long major league career have allowed him to accumulate 124 wins, which is the record that all Asian pitchers look up to in the major leagues so far. Park Zan-ho, who left the major leagues, returned to his Japanese position and South Korea for another two years. Finally, he announced his retirement at the age of 39 to bid farewell to his baseball career. His experience inspired a group of Korean teenagers to devote themselves to the baseball career and is a well-deserved Korean baseball legend.
In September this year, the MLB HRDX home run international challenge will be launched in Seoul, South Korea. This event perfectly combines home plate play competition with food, music performance and other elements. South Korean top musicians PSY, Crush and Heize will bring the top music feast to the audience. also includes local Korean baseball stars joining each participating team to compete for . Let’s party with the big baseball players and enjoy the fun brought by baseball!
Are you looking forward to this home run international challenge? We will also live broadcast the challenge of Seoul Station. For more exciting things, please quickly lock in the official accounts of MLB Major League Baseball platforms!
