South Korea’s Sports Kyung-Hyang reported that a number of major MLB ball clubs are observing Hyeon-Jong Yang, a Korean starting pitcher for the Gwangju KIA Tigers. Yang has already earned approval from his team and is currently preparing to start bidding with any MLB (Major League Baseball) team that might be interested.
Scouts from multiple MLB teams have been seen visiting the Champions Field in Gwangju, South Korea to observe and analyze the young left-hand pitcher. Some teams have also been reported to have purchased data and records from Korea’s Sports 2I, a reliable sports statistics institute that has records of all of KBO (Korean Baseball Organization)’s pitchers that they acquired through PTS (Pitch Tracking System).
An insider of the company announced that some of the people that bought Yang’s data from them were also people who had bought data concerning Hyun Jin Ryu (Los Angeles Dodgers) only 2 seasons ago. Even while Ryu was posting after the 2012 KBO seasons, MLB ball clubs including the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians continued to purchase his data from Sports 2I. It is reported that Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels, and even the Yankees have visited Sports 2I.
26-year-old Yang started his professional career in the 2007 KBO draft (1st pick, 9th overall) after graduating from Dongsung High School and joined the Gwangju KIA Tigers. Yang is a lefty with a 90-mile fastball with slider, changeup, and curveball. Unlike Gwang-Hyun Kim who was offered 2 million dollars by the San Diego Padres only a few days ago, many MLB teams have expressed great interest in his variety of weapons. Kim on the other hand throws only a fastball and a fast slider.
In 2010, he was officially crowned the ace of the Tigers with 16 wins and 8 losses with an ERA of 4.25, and was selected to play for the Korean national team in the Gwangzhou Asian Games where Korea won gold for baseball. Though he had to suffer through a number of small injuries in 2008 and 2009, this season, Yang finished strong with 16 wins.
New York Daily News reported that Yang and the Tigers will begin bidding with MLB teams on the 18th. They noted that Kim (Incheon SK Wyverns) was offered 2 million dollars from the San Diego Padres, but estimated that Yang will get a much more generous offer considering his capabilities and potential as a starter. They explained that Yang had a much more flexible and softer pitching form, and was less likely to be injured.
It is ironic because ever since both of their debuts in 2007, most Korean baseball fans considered Kim to be a superior pitcher than Yang. In 2008 Gwang-Hyun Kim was crowned season KBO MVP and won the golden glove twice while Yang still has not titles.
