Thursday, February 23, 2017

Card of the Week: Park Yong-taik (Week 11)

Park Yong-taik (박용택) was drafted out of Korea University back in 1998 in the second round by the LG Twins. He has been a life-long LG Twin to this point and I expect he will retire as an LG Twin. He made his KBO debut in 2002 and ended up playing in 112 games and batting 0.288 which was the highest of any rookie that year. Park has been playing in the KBO for 15 seasons and has a career batting average of 0.306 with 181 HRs and an OBP of 0.369.

In 2009, Park finished with his first and only batting title with an average of 0.372, but he has also finished in the top 10 for average in 8 of his 15 seasons. He has also claimed 3 gold gloves in his career and played in international tournaments in 1996, 1999, 2001. He was also a member of the 2006 WBC team for Korea.

Last season Park finished 5th in average at 0.346. He also had 11 HRs, 90 RBIs, and an OBP of 0.412. He was also outstanding during the 2016 KBO Wild Card series going 3-7 against the KIA Tigers and the 2016 KBO First Round Playoffs going 6-15 against the Nexen Heroes. However, he didn't fair as well against the 2nd place NC Dinos in the second round of the playoffs. He only went 1-14 against the Dinos in 4 games.

At the end of the day, Park is always a threat to get on base and even steal a base. I think his player cheer song, which says "Invincible LG Park Yong-taik," does him justice.


2016-17 Super Star Baseball Card Black Edition Jersey Card (#'d 22/40)

Park Yong-taik Cheer

Monday, February 13, 2017

Card of the Week: Yoo Hee-kwan (Week 10)

Over the last few weeks there has been plenty of talk about Yoo Hee-kwan in Korean sports news. There have been a few articles about him and his possible inclusion (which didn't happen) in the WBC. If you take a look at his 2016 season numbers you may say that he looks pretty good and should have gotten a shot.

2016 Stats (KBO w/Doosan)
ERA
W-L
SV
HLD
SO
BB
IP
4.41
15-6
0
0
102
58
185 2/3

For those that don't follow the KBO or don't really know about Yoo, his numbers look fine and he has done really well over the past years posting a record of 55-27 since 2013. So what is the issue with a guy that is putting up good numbers? The issue is his underwhelming power as a pitcher. Yoo's average fastball comes in at just under 80 mph and his other pitches are usually down in the low 70's and upper 60's.

While his ball speeds may be something to scoff at, he makes the best of what he does by being accurate and using ball placement. That combined with the typically hot bats of Doosan make a perfect combination to put wins under his belt. He is also pretty good for a laugh with his on field and off field joking ways. That's why I think it would have been interesting to see him on the squad for Team Korea. Anyway, there is always another shot for him in the future.


Yoo Hee-Kwan 2015 Super Star Baseball Series 2 Super Piece (#'d 09/40)

Yoo as Eric Thames in charity game

Yoo with Band Aid Nipples after 2015 Korean Series Win

Yoo as Iron Man after 2016 Korean Series Win

Friday, February 10, 2017

Team Korea: 2017 WBC Final Roster

Pitchers

Woo Kyu-min (Samsung)


2016 Stats (KBO w/LG)
ERA
W-L
SV
HLD
SO
BB
IP
4.91
6-11
0
1
81
36
132

Rhee Dae-eun (Police)



2016 Stats (NPBL w/Chibba Lotte)
ERA
W-L
SV
HLD
SO
BB
IP
7.20
0-0
0
0
2
4
5

Won Jong-hyun (NC)


2016 Stats (KBO w/NC)
ERA
W-L
SV
HLD
SO
BB
IP
3.18
3-3
3
17
75
18
70 2/3

Jang Shi-hwan (KT)


2016 Stats (KBO w/KT)
ERA
W-L
SV
HLD
SO
BB
IP
6.33
3-12
6
3
67
43
75 1/3

Im Jung-woo (LG)


2016 Stats (KBO w/LG)
ERA
W-L
SV
HLD
SO
BB
IP
3.82
3-8
28
0
87
36
70 2/3

Yang Hyun-jong (KIA)


2016 Stats (KBO w/KIA)
ERA
W-L
SV
HLD
SO
BB
IP
3.68
10-12
0
0
146
77
200 1/3

Oh Seung-hwan (St. Louis)


2016 Stats (MLB w/St Louis)
ERA
W-L
SV
HLD
SO
BB
IP
1.92
6-3
19
0
103
18
79 2/3

Park Hee-soo (SK)


2016 Stats (KBO w/SK)
ERA
W-L
SV
HLD
SO
BB
IP
3.29
4-5
26
0
37
26
54 2/3

Cha Woo-chan (LG)


2016 Stats (KBO w/Samsung)
ERA
W-L
SV
HLD
SO
BB
IP
4.73
12-6
0
0
120
65
152 1/3

Lee Hyun-seung (Doosan)


2016 Stats (KBO w/Doosan)
ERA
W-L
SV
HLD
SO
BB
IP
4.84
1-4
25
1
41
17
57 2/3

Lim Chang-yong (KIA)


2016 Stats (KBO w/KIA)
ERA
W-L
SV
HLD
SO
BB
IP
4.37
3-3
15
0
38
10
35

Shim Chang-min (Samsung)


2016 Stats (KBO w/Samsung)
ERA
W-L
SV
HLD
SO
BB
IP
2.97
2-6
25
4
76
26
72 2/3

Jang Won-jun (Doosan)


2016 Stats (w/Doosan)
ERA
W-L
SV
HLD
SO
BB
IP
3.32
15-6
0
0
137
76
168

Catchers

Kim Tae-goon (NC)


2016 Stats (KBO w/NC)
AVG
HR
RBI
SO
BB
SB
OBP
E
0.232
1
30
44
22
0
0.293
0

Yang Eui-ji (Doosan)


2016 Stats (KBO w/Doosan)
AVG
HR
RBI
SO
BB
SB
OBP
E
0.319
22
66
29
40
2
0.404
7

1st Base

Kim Tae-gyun (Hanhwa)


2016 Stats (KBO w/Hanhwa)
AVG
HR
RBI
SO
BB
SB
OBP
E
0.365
23
136
97
108
1
0.475
4

Lee Dae-ho (Lotte)


2016 Stats (MLB w/Seattle)
AVG
HR
RBI
SO
BB
SB
OBP
E
0.253
14
49
74
20
0
0.312
2

2nd Base

Oh Jae-won (Doosan)


2016 Stats (KBO w/Doosan)
AVG
HR
RBI
SO
BB
SB
OBP
E
0.272
5
58
82
54
13
0.358
16

Seo Geon-chang (Nexen)


2016 Stats (KBO w/Nexen)
AVG
HR
RBI
SO
BB
SB
OBP
E
0.325
7
63
58
69
26
0.406
15

3rd Base

Park Suk-min (NC)


2016 Stats (KBO w/NC)
AVG
HR
RBI
SO
BB
SB
OBP
E
0.307
32
104
95
56
2
0.404
15

Heo Kyung-min (Doosan)


2016 Stats (KBO w/Doosan)
AVG
HR
RBI
SO
BB
SB
OBP
E
0.286
7
81
95
56
6
0.360
8

SS

Kim Ha-sung (Nexen)


2016 Stats (KBO w/Nexen)
AVG
HR
RBI
SO
BB
SB
OBP
E
0.281
20
84
80
60
28
0.358
21

Kim Jae-ho (Doosan)


2016 Stats (KBO w/Doosan)
AVG
HR
RBI
SO
BB
SB
OBP
E
0.310
7
78
52
57
8
0.389
10

Outfield

Min Byung-hun (Doosan)


2016 Stats (KBO w/Doosan)
AVG
HR
RBI
SO
BB
SB
OBP
E
0.325
16
87
91
48
9
0.396
0

Park Kun-woo (Doosan)


2016 Stats (KBO w/Doosan)
AVG
HR
RBI
SO
BB
SB
OBP
E
0.335
20
83
86
38
17
0.390
3

Lee Yong-kyu (Hanhwa)


2016 Stats (KBO w/Hanhwa)
AVG
HR
RBI
SO
BB
SB
OBP
E
0.352
3
41
29
63
21
0.438
3

Choi Hyung-woo (KIA)


2016 Stats (KBO w/Samsung)
AVG
HR
RBI
SO
BB
SB
OBP
E
0.376
31
144
83
83
2
0.464
3

Son Ah-seop (Lotte)


2016 Stats (KBO w/Lotte)
AVG
HR
RBI
SO
BB
SB
OBP
E
0.323
16
81
104
92
42
0.418
3