“I’ve heard that too, but Pittsburgh is probably right.”
In mid-January, Deoksu High School coach Jeong Yun-jin answered the above question to the magazine’s question about Shim Jun-seok’s 메이저사이트 future. And as the story said, the Pittsburgh Pirates announced the news of the contract with Shim Jun-seok on various social media and materialized the fact of joining.
As a result, Pittsburgh unintentionally remained as a club that had a ‘Korean-friendly’ image. Pittsburgh has already won the most wins by an Asian pitcher with Park Chan-ho, and Kim Byung-hyun was invited to the Pittsburgh spring camp. And through the post, Kang Jeong-ho (former Kiwoom) joined, and Park Hyo-joon (Atlanta), Choi Ji-man, and Bae Ji-hwan wore the Pittsburgh uniform. This season, Choi Ji-man and Bae Ji-hwan will be in charge of Pittsburgh’s infield.
It seems that Shim Jun-seok will start with the rookie league, just like the two seniors currently on the Pittsburgh Major League roster. Choi Ji-man and Bae Ji-hwan also started in the rookie league and advanced to the major leagues. As much as Pittsburgh has impressed many Korean players with good grades, Shim Jun-seok only needs to show his skills well, regardless of the size of his down payment.
Regarding this, director Jung Yun-jin asked for trust in Shim Jun-seok. He said, ‘I have to play baseball because I like it’. He emphasized that he had to do it himself, not because someone told him to. In particular, since minor league coaches do not provide meticulous care for each and every pitch like manager Jeong Yun-jin, his will is important.
From Chan-ho Park to the present, there are very few pitchers who have succeeded in entering the major leagues after signing a minor league contract as a ‘student baseball player’. After 2009, 100% of minor league pitchers made a U-turn to the KBO league. It is worth paying attention to whether Shim Jun-seok will be able to perform an activity worthy of the nickname ‘Little Park Chan-ho’.
It is expected that the meeting of four Korean minor leaguers, including Jo Won-bin (St. Louis) and Eom Hyeong-chan (Kansas City), who are likely to face off in the same league this season, and Choi Hyeon-il (LA), who has successfully rehabilitated, will also be interesting.