Rak-yung Kim

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 5", Weight 136 lb.

• Born November 4, 2000

Biographical Information

Rak-yung Kim debuted for the South Korean women's national team at age 15. She got the win over Pakistan in the 2016 Women's Baseball World Cup with 1 1/3 shutout innings. She later lost to Australia and Japan in that event to finish at 1-2, 6.10 with 12 walks in 10 1/3 IP. She tied for 4th in the Cup in losses, tied Yu-ka Bae for South Korea's lead in wins, was 4th in the event in walks and led in wild pitches (6).

In the 2017 Women's Baseball Asian Cup, she was used solely as a position player and hit well (.400/.500/.600). By the 2018 Women's Baseball World Cup, the teenager was a two-way player, appearing at 3B, RF and 1B in addition to pitcher and DH. She got the win over Berber Jansen and the Netherlands in the opener. Against the USA, her hit off Kelsie Whitmore drove in Hee-ra Yeom with South Korea's only run. She later lost to Cuba's Mayumis Solano and then beat Hong Kong to finish at 2-1, 1.00 (though she allowed 12 unearned runs as well in her 14 IP). She still walked a lot (15) but also fanned 19. The rest of South Korea's staff was 0-5 with a 12.97 ERA as she was their clear ace. She tied for 3rd in the Cup in wins (one behind Ayami Sato and Chiao-Yun Huang), was 10th in innings, tied for 5th in games pitched (4), tied Yee-Wan Lam and Maria van Veen for 6th in runs allowed, led in walks (3 ahead of Dianelis Porro and Alli Schroder) and led in Ks (one ahead of MVP Sato).