Jin-uk Kim

Jin-uk Kim (김진욱)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 198 lb.

• High School Gangneung High School

• Born July 5, 2002 in Pyeongtaek South Korea

BR register page

Biographical Information

Jin-uk Kim almost won an Olympic medal as a teenager.

Kim was the second-round pick of the Lotte Giants in the 2021 KBO draft, out of high school. He was 2-5 with a 8.07 ERA after 17 games as a pro, walking almost a batter per inning, but was surprisingly picked for South Korea's squad for the Tokyo Olympics. He was the youngest baseball player in those Games, about a month younger than Eui-lee Lee.

Despite his pro struggles to that point, he was unhittable in four relief appearances in the Olympics. He debuted against Team USA, replacing Min-woo Kim in the 7th with a 4-1 deficit and two outs. He struck out Jamie Westbrook then began the 8th by getting Eddy Alvarez looking before Se-woong Park relieved. His next game, he replaced Woo-suk Go with two outs, a man on and a 5-2 deficit in the bottom of the 8th, retiring Hayato Sakamoto of Gold Medal-bound Japan. The lefty was South Korea's 5th pitcher in the 6th inning of a loss to the US in the semifinals, relieving Sang-woo Cho and striking out Triston Casas; he had now retired three players bound for the All-Olympic team (Alvarez, Sakamoto, Casas). He got Todd Frazier and Eric Filia to open the 7th then Park came in. In the Bronze Medal Game against the Dominican Republic, he took over for veteran Seung-hwan Oh with a 10-6 deficit, one on and one out in the 8th. He retired Melky Cabrera then walked José Bautista and Charlie Valerio before getting Jeison Guzmán on a fly. He walked Emilio Bonifacio to open the 9th then Tae-in Won took over. He tied for 6th in the Games in pitching appearances.