Kim Byung-hyun

By Kang Seung-woo

To borrow an oft-used line from former NFL head coach Dennis Green, Kim Byung-hyun is not who the Nexen Heroes thought he was: a gritty veteran with two World Series rings and a top-tier pitcher whiffing big-league batters.

And he may say “let him off the hook.”

After picking up his second defeat of the season on Thursday, the pre-season hopes of the former Arizona Diamondbacks closer providing a glimpse of his old self are swiftly fading.

The 33-year-old, who secured a spot in the rotation midway through May after one relief appearance, has two losses with a 6.20 ERA from five outings including four starts.

What is worse, despite facing the Kia Tigers on a three-game losing streak, seen as a breather to pick himself up, the side-arm hurler failed to live up to expectations. He gave up five runs on seven hits and four walks in five innings, raising questions about if he still has anything left in the tank.

His displays present a striking contrast to those of the Hanwha Eagles’ Park Chan-ho, the other former Major League Baseball pitcher to join the KBO this season.

The 38-year-old veteran is 3-5 with a 4.05 ERA, but Park has performed better than the numbers indicate. In his 11 starts, he has six quality starts — delivering at least six innings and allowing no more than three earned runs.

Experts say that Kim’s bad control on the mound is mainly attributed to his poor delivery.

“Kim is having trouble finding his old pitching style. His fastball is all right, but he cannot command his breaking ball,” said KBS Sports commentator Lee Yong-chul. “Besides, he is pitching off balance.”

In 394 appearances in the majors during his nine-year career, Kim had just eight games where he yielded five or more walks but in Korea he has already walked five or more batters twice including a career-high eight against the Lotte Giants on June 1.

Kim’s lack of preparation for the season has also affected his performances.

Since he last pitched in the big leagues in 2007 with the Florida Marlins, the forerunner of the Miami Marlins, the right hander only played in an independent baseball league in 2010. Last season, he signed with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in Japan, but he spent most of the time recovering from a ankle injury he suffered right before the season.

“Kim is not fully match fit,” Lee said.

“Although he trained for six months for his KBO debut, it is not enough. He needs to focus on getting in good physical condition to compete in a match.”

OBS sports commentator Gu Kyung-baek said, “I predicted this kind of scenario for Kim ahead of the season because he had not pitched at a competitive level for a long time.”