Jong-seok Yeom

Jong-seok Yeom (염종석)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 220 lb.

• High School Busan High School

• Born March 20, 1973 in Busan South Korea

BR register page

Biographical Information

Jong-seok Yeom played in the Korea Baseball Organization for 16 years.

Yeom was signed by the Lotte Giants in 1992, and he became their ace as a rookie. He went 17-9 with a 2.33 ERA, and he won the ERA title and KBO Gold Glove as a pitcher. As the Gold Glove went to the best overall player at each position, it was a Pitcher-of-the-Year equivalent honor. He was 3rd in wins (tied with Hak-kil Yoon) and 6th in strikeouts (between Sam-heum Jeong and Jeong-soo Kim). Yeom also won the KBO Rookie of the Year award, and his 17 wins were the most in a pitcher's first season. Yeom grabbed 4 wins in the entire postseason in 1992, and he tied Dong-won Choi for most wins in the postseason in a year. He completed 2 shutouts in the postseason, and no other KBO pitcher has done it again through 2024. The Giants beat the Binggrae Eagles in 5 games in the 1992 Korean Series (he dueled Min-chul Jeong through 8 scoreless innings in a Game 2 no-decision then beat him in Game 4), and Yeom won his first title.

The Busan native went 10-10 with a 3.41 ERA in 1993, and he was 4-8 with a 3.69 ERA in 1994. Yeom then had a 7-7 record with a 2.98 ERA in 1995, then he beat Sang-jin Kim and the OB Bears in the 1995 Korean Series opener but losing to Pil-jung Jin in Game 7. He missed the entire 1996 season due to elbow injury. He returned in 1997 with a 6-9 record and a 3.84 ERA, then he was 7-15 with a 3.90 ERA in 1998. Yeom was 2nd in losses in 1998, 2 behind Sang-mok Lee. He went 5-5 with a 3.31 ERA in 1999, then lost Game 2 of the 1999 Korean Series in a 1992 rematch with Jeong (the team was now the Hanwha Eagles). He suffered from a shoulder injury so he only got 6 appearances with the big club in 2000. Yeom was 6-9 with a 3.94 ERA in 2001, and he had a 8-14 record with a 4.36 ERA in 2002. He ranked 2nd in losses again in 2002, 4 behind Young-soo Kim.

Yeom slumped to 7-14 with a 5.17 ERA in 2003, and he led the league in losses (tied with Gyoung-wan Lim). He then started 21 games with a 4.59 ERA and a 3-6 record in 2004, and he was 3-9 with a 3.77 ERA in 2005. Yeom was still a solid starter in 2006 as he went 6-9 with a 3.72 ERA, and he had a 4-8 record with a 4.94 ERA in 2007. His ERA was 3.65 in 21 relief outings in 2008, then he announced his retirement. He was the minor league coach for the Giants from 2010 to 2012 and in 2014, and he was their bullpen coach in 2013 and pitching coach in 2015. Yeom became the coach of the Dong-Eui Institute of Technology in 2020.

Overall, Yeom was 93-133 with a 3.76 ERA, struck out 1,016 and pitched 1,791 1/3 in 16 seasons in the KBO. As of 2024, he was 35th in wins (between Jun Sung and Jeong-soo Kim), 3rd in losses (20 behind Jin-woo Song), 35th in strikeouts (between Dong-won Choi and Chan-kyu Im) and 18th in innings (between Ho-yeon Jang and Sang-jin Kim).

Sources

• Namu Wiki