Hyung-kwang Joo

Hyung-kwang Joo (주형광)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 202 lb.

• High School Busan High School

• Born March 1, 1976 in Busan South Korea

BR register page

Biographical Information

Hyung-kwang Joo pitched in the Korea Baseball Organization for 14 years

Joo was signed by the Lotte Giants in 1994, and he became their ace as a rookie. He collected his first save on April 15, then he got his first career win against the Hanwha Eagles four days later. He completed the game with 9 strikeouts, and he only allowed an unearned run and 2 hits. Joo was the youngest pitcher to get a save, a win, a complete game and a shutout in KBO history. He ended up 11-5 with a 3.04 ERA, and he was 4th in strikeouts (between Sang-Hoon Lee and Kang-chul Lee) and 10th in ERA (between Sam-heum Jeong and Hong-jip Kim). However, Joo lost the KBO Rookie of the Year award to Ji-hyun Ryu, who collected 51 steals with 15 homers.

The Busan native shined in 1995, and he went 10-7 with a 3.05 ERA. He was 10th in ERA again (between Jong-seok Yeom and Chung-sik Park) and 4th in strikeouts (between Sang-jin Kim and Sang-Hoon Lee). Joo completed a one-hit shutout against the LG Twins in the playoff series Game 6 to help his team advance to the 1997 Korean Series, and he won the playoff MVP. He pitched 8 1/3 innings with 2 runs allowed in 1995 Korean Series Game 2, but Myeong-cheol Kwon got the win over him. The OB Bears beat the Giants in 7 games. Joo then had his career year in 1996, and he went 18-7 with a 3.36 ERA and 221 strikeouts. He led the league in strikeouts and tied Dae-sung Koo for the most wins, and he was 2 strikeouts away from breaking Dong-won Choi's KBO single-season strikeouts record. This was still the 4th most strikeouts in a season in KBO annals as of 2023, (behind Choi, Ariel Miranda and Woo-jin An), and was the single-season record for a southpaw.

Joo suffered from a shoulder injury in 1997, and he struggled as he was 6-13 with a 5.88 ERA. He led the league in losses, tied with Min-tae Chung. Joo bounced back soon, and he had a 11-7 record with a 3.63 ERA in 1998. He went 13-12 with a 3.98 ERA in 1999, tying Chang-yong Lim, Byung-kyu Kang and Kyeong-pil Lee for 8th in wins and ranking 3rd in strikeouts (between Chung and Jang-jin No). In the 1999 Korean Series, Joo pitched 5 1/3 innings with 2 runs allowed in Game 6, but he lost to Min-chul Jeong. The Hanwha Eagles beat the Giants in 7 games. Joo then represented South Korea in the 1999 Asian Baseball Championships. He already had 1,000 strikeouts by the time he was 24, and it seemed that he would become one of the greatest starters in KBO history.

However, injuries ruined Joo's career, and he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2000. He nearly missed the entire 2001 season, and he was not the same pitcher as he was before he torn his ligament. Joo had a 4.58 ERA with 13 holds in 62 games in 2003, and he was 4th in holds (tied with Deuk-yeom Ka, Seung-wook No and Hyun-wook Kim). Joo went 4-4 with a 3.41 ERA in 2004, but he injured his elbow again on June 1 and he missed the rest of the season. He went 3-2 with a 6.03 ERA in 2005, and he was 3-6 with a 4.14 ERA and 7 holds in 2005. Joo's ERA was 4.15 in 33 games in 2006, and he announced his retirement. He later coached in the Giants system from 2009 to 2019. Joo was the assistant coach of Korea University in 2020, and he returned to the Giants as their pitching coach in 2024.

Overall, Joo was 87-82 with a 3.83 ERA, collected 9 saves and 22 holds in 386 appearances, struck out 1,209 and pitched 1,524 1/3 innings in 14 seasons in the KBO.

Sources

• Namu wiki