Lefty fireballer Kim Kwang-hyun of the SK Wyverns has performed poorly this year.But the club revealed Tuesday, just before the game against the Samsung Lions in Daegu, that the pitcher suffered a cerebral infarction, an ischemic kind of stroke, on Oct. 25 last year. Kim had secured a Korean Series win for the Wyverns just 5 days earlier.
“The reason Kim had facial paralysis was because of a cerebral infarction,” a Wyverns official said.
This forced Kim to be left off the roster for the Guangzhou Asian Games and his team announced that this change was due to stress.
The Korea Baseball Organization didn’t report on his health problems but Kim’s condition had reportedly been so severe that the whole right side of his body was paralyzed.
“We didn’t try to conceal his illness we just didn’t want to use the term cerebral infarction for the young 22-year-old pitcher,” the SK official said.
The official added that the team’s medical staff have evaluated that there is no difficulty for Kim to play baseball and he has fully recovered.
“If he was still feeling the effects of a cerebral infarction, how could he train?”
So far Kim, the defending champion in the most win category with 17 last season, has a 4-6 record with 5.14 ERA in 13 appearances. After pitching through June 23, Kim has been rehabilitating in Japan but the Wyverns have given no clear explanation as to why he is there.
Kim is one of the most valued left-handed pitchers, along with Ryu Hyun-jin of the Hanwha Eagles.
Having announced Kim’s previous medical problem the team may need to clarify his status to quiet speculation on the hurler’s future.
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