Kim Byung-hyun on the Move Again
Kim Byung-hyun must live in an RV the way he gets shipped around the Major League:
South Korean star pitcher Kim Byung-hyun re-signed with Major League Baseball’s Florida Marlins on Saturday.
The Marlins inked the righthander, who has been with three clubs this season. He is in his second stint with Florida.
The 28-year-old Kim is 6-6 with a 5.23 ERA in 19 games – 16 starts – with the Colorado Rockies, Marlins and Arizona Diamondbacks this season. He made only two starts in Arizona, posting an inflated 23.63 ERA before being released.
And why the Marlins think he will do any better in Florida is anybody’s guess.
He should have stuck with what he did best, being a reliever. Why he wanted to throw all the success he had away and insist on becoming a starter, is beyond me.
I for the life of me could not figure out why he wanted to be a starting pitcher either. He is much more effective pitching 1 to 2 innings at a time. It is amazing how he still has not been able to overcome what happened to him during the World Series six years ago.
He's still effective in stretches. The problem for him has been the BIG innings. Pitching in the thin Colorado air didn't help his cause either. Then again, he wasn't great with Marlins, even with their ballpark favoring pitchers.
That's a shame….His style of pitching and talent were worth watching and could have been effective as a closer. He could have put a lot of excitement into the game….
There just seems to be something about closing. It seems to take special breeds. You get these guys who come up like Kim or John Rocker who show incredible talent — as in a 98 MPH fastball — who show brilliance and then just flame out and are often out of the game in a couple of years…….
….I guess it is just surprising to see how mental sports are at that level. It should make us appreciate more those guys who stay near the top of their game – like Tiger Woods or pitchers like Greg Maddux or Tom Glavin or John Smoltz — especially someone like Smoltz who has gone from all-star starter to all-star closer back to all-star starter in his long career….