Soo-bin Jung

Soo-bin Jung (정수빈)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 9", Weight 154 lb.

• High School Yushin High School

• Born October 7, 1990 in Suwon South Korea

BR register page

Biographical Information

Soo-bin Jung has been an outfielder for the Doosan Bears.

Jung hit .423 for South Korea in the 2008 World Junior Championship, helping them win Gold. He made the All-Tournament team as an outfielder, joining Yasiel Puig and Michael Crouse. He was drafted by the Doosan Bears and became the youngest position player to make their Opening Day roster since Soo-keun Jung back in 1995. He hit .264/.340/.390 in 2009 with 6 triples and 13 steals in 20 tries in 85 games. He tied outfield mate Hyun-soo Kim for second in the league in three-baggers, three behind Won-seop Kim.

In 2010, he hit .322/.361/.483 with 13 steals in 16 tries over 76 games (156 PA). Had he qualified, he would have been 5th in average (between Jin-young Lee and Jun-suk Choi). He did tie Ji-hwan Oh for second in triples (6). He was South Korea's leadoff man in the 2010 Intercontinental Cup, playing LF and CF. He hit .280/.400/.440 with 5 steals in 5 tries, 5 runs, six RBI and two triples in seven round-robin games, with 17 putouts, 2 assists and no errors. He tied for 4th in RBI (behind Alfredo Despaigne, Yulieski Gourriel and Jae-hwan Kim), led in walks and led in steals (one over Che-Hsuan Lin). In the 5th/6th place game, he was 0 for 4 in a loss to rival Japan.

Jung produced at a .285/.361/.372 clip in 2011 with 8 triples and 31 swipes while being caught only 8 times. He led in triples for the first time and was 4th in steals (between Young-seop Bae and Yong-kyu Lee). In 2012, he slumped to .235/.281/.314 with 7 triples and 24 steals in 30 attempts. He was second in triples for the third time in four seasons (behind Geon-chang Seo's 10) and missed the top 10 in steals by one. As a part-time specialist in 2013 (260 PA, 125 G), he hit .276/.337/.382. He stole 23 bases in 31 tries and 8 triples to only two doubles and two home runs. He tied Ji-hwan Oh for the league lead in triples. Despite only two regular-season home runs, he came up with power when it mattered, taking Rick van den Hurk deep to open game 6 of the 2013 Korean Series, the first player to hit a leadoff homer in a Korean Series game. Unfortunately, the Bears lost the game and the Series to the Samsung Lions in 7.

The Suwon native hit .306/.379/.422 with 7 triples, 79 runs and 32 steals (caught 5 times) in the 2014 KBO. He tied for sixth in the circuit in triples for his lowest finish in his six seasons and tied Keun-woo Jeong and Kang-min Kim for 7th in stolen bases. He batted .295/.361/.391 with 27 doubles, 7 triples, 79 runs and 15 steals in 24 tries in 2015. He tied Jong-ho Kim, Yong-kyu Lee and Hae-min Park for his 3rd triples title. He really excelled in the 2015 Korean Series. In game 1, he was 2 for 3 with a run and two RBI but was hit by a pitch and had to leave the game early, then missed game 2 due to being hurt. Returning as a DH in game 3, he was 1 for 2 with two walks and a run, then 2 for 4 with two runs in game 4. In game 5, he went 3 for 5 with a double, steal, home run, run and four RBI as Doosan beat Samsung in five. He finished the Series 8-for-14 with two walks, the hit-by-pitch, five runs and six RBI despite the injury and was named Korean Series MVP as the Bears won their first title in 14 years.

Sources

• KBO player page
• 2010 Intercontinental Cup Final Report
• Wikipedia entry