Jae-hyun Kim

Jae-hyun Kim (김재현)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 10", Weight 183 lb.

• High School Shinil High School

• Born October 2, 1975 in Seoul South Korea

BR register page

Biographical Information

Outfielder Jae-hyun Kim has hit over 170 home runs in the Korea Baseball Organization and also won three KBO Gold Glove Awards. He had one 20-20 season, led the KBO once in OBP and was Korean Series MVP in 2007.

Kim debuted in 1994 with the LG Twins, hitting .289/~.375/.495 with 21 home runs and 21 stolen bases. He won his first Gold Glove Award as well in an excellent rookie season but lost KBO Rookie of the Year honors to Ji-hyun Yoo.

Kim's batting line fell to .255/~.353/.438 with 15 homers in 1995. The next year, he batted .283/~.373/.411. He did not play in 1997 (presumably due to military service or injury). In 1998, he returned and hit .295/~.366/.471 with 16 homers. He won his second Gold Glove Award in the outfield.

Kim hit .287/~.374/.468 with 21 home runs in 1999. In 2000, his batting line was .308/~.418/.457 with 88 walks. The next year, the LG outfielder hit .325/~.446/.453. He only had eight home runs but drew 94 walks. He finished 8th in the KBO in average.

In 2002, Kim hit .334/~.465/.544 in 98 games, the first time he failed to top 100 in a season. Had he qualified, he would have ranked second to Seong-ho Chang in average. Kim kept on hitting in 2003 with a .308/~.396/.490 line in 50 games. In 2004, he batted .300/~.421/.477 while playing regularly once more.

Kim moved to the SK Wyverns in 2005, hitting .315/.445/.500 with 19 homers and 96 walks. He was 4th in the KBO in average, led the KBO in OBP and won the "Gold Glove Award" at DH - an award for the best offensive DH despite the name.

Through 2005, Kim was tied for 9th in KBO history in batting average (.299), was 16th in doubles (229), 30th in games played (1,246), tied for 30th in times grounded into double play (90), 20th in hits (1,283), 19th in home runs (158), 14th in RBI (710), 20th in runs scored (684), 16th in strikeouts (708) and 7th in walks+HBP (751).

Kim hit .287/~.420/.404 in 2006. His production fell drastically in 2007, with a batting line of .198/~.339/.324 in 84 contests. In the 2007 Korean Series, Kim had a strong resurgence with two home runs and four RBI to help the Wyverns win their first title. For his efforts, he won the Korean Series Most Valuable Player Award.

In 2008, Kim hit .310/~.431/.488; in the 2008 Korean Series, he hit a 2-run homer in game two as SK won another title. He bated .301/.~434/.467 in 2009 and .288/~.408/.464 in 2010. He batted .333 in the 2010 Korean Series, as the Wyverns won their third title. He then retired.

Overall, Kim batted .294/~.405/.461 for his career with 201 homers, 1,062 walks, 884 runs and 939 RBI in 1,770 games.

Primary source: Kim's KBO player page