Kim, Ryu Head List of Emerging Left-Handers
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
After watching Kim Kwang-hyun obliterate the Kia Tigers like an over-aged kid mowing down little leaguers, it's hard to imagine that this was the same player who labored through a 3-7 record last season and was denounced as a rookie bust.
Granted, the rail-thin SK Wyverns lefty delivered when it mattered most, outdueling the Doosan Bears' 22-game winner Daniel Rios in Game 3 of the Korean Series that provided the turning point in the Wyverns' coming-from-behind title run.
So Kim naturally was one of the league's biggest enigmas ahead of the new season, with Wyverns manager Kim Sung-keun anxious to find out whether the 20-year-old's postseason heroics were an indicator for things to come or just a flash in the pan.
Leading the league in wins, strikeouts and ERA is a good way to quiet the doubters. After his first six starts, Kim is 5-1 with a 1.76 ERA and has fanned 34 hitters in 36 innings, emerging as the ace of a starting rotation credited for engineering the Wyverns' 18-5 start that has them comfortably atop the league.
Kim gave a spectacular display of his talent against the Tigers in Incheon Saturday, keeping a perfect game through the fourth inning and striking out 10 over seven innings while limiting the damage to a run in the 5-1 Wyverns victory.
Kim is looking quite unhittable these days, using a fastball topping out at 154kph and a big 12-to-6 curve as his out pitches and also mixing in a slider and changeup.
``I really wanted to strikeout the whole Tigers lineup but ended up missing on Wilson Valdes and Kim Joo-hyung," said a cheerful Kim after the game at Munhak Stadium.
``I was looking to mix things up a bit today, using my fastball to get ahead in counts and using the slider to get batters out. It worked.''
The Wyverns need Kim to stay brilliant for the full season, with the team already packing off newcomer Darwin Cubillan after he started 1-2 with a 12.86 ERA. This further exposes the team's decision not to re-sign Michael Romano, who won 12 games for them last season, as a mistake.
However, if Kim could sustain his trajectory of growth, the Wyverns still have the league's best starting rotation with Kenny Rayborn and Chey Byung-yong completing the top three.
Kim's emergence has the media penciling him in a rivalry with Hanwha Eagles ace Ryu Hyun-jin, a third-year lefty who combined for 35 wins in 2006 and 2007.
Eagles officials had worried that Ryu, who logged more than 200 innings in each of his first two years as a pro, was showing side effects of a heavy workload.
The 21-year-old failed to pitch through the second inning of a playoff game against the Bears last year after complaining of pain in his throwing arm and struggled again in his starts against Australia and Canada for South Korea in the Olympic baseball qualifiers in Taiwan last month.
After Ryu was shelled in the season opener against the Lotte Giants, the Eagles finally came around to the idea of limiting Ryu's appearances, mandating that he takes at least six days between starts.
The idea seems to be working, with Ryu posting a 4-1 record after five starts with a 2.46 ERA. However, Ryu's diminishing strikeout rate remains a concern to look out for.
Ryu, who had 382 strikeouts in his first two seasons as a pro, fanned more than five batters just once in his five starts this year, which is worrisome for a pitcher who never had a high ground-ball ratio.
While Kim and Ryu are getting most of the spotlight, LG Twins starter Bong Jung-keun, another lefty, is quietly emerging a solid starter.
The former Cincinnati Reds prospect, who went 6-7 with a 5.32 ERA for the Twins last season, is looking as a late boomer at the age of 28, going 2-3 with a 2.36 ERA after six starts.