Won-hyung Kim

Won-hyung Kim (김원형)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 165 lb.

• High School Jeonju High School

• Born July 5, 1972 in Jeonju South Korea

BR register page

Biographical Information

Won-hyung Kim has been a long-time pitcher in the Korea Baseball Organization, working over 2,000 innings and getting over 250 decisions. He twice was second in the league in ERA.

Kim was a high school teammate of Kyung-wan Park, a future KBO MVP. Like Park, Kim was drafted by the Ssangbangwool Raiders and began his pro career in 1991, going 7-11 with a 4.69 ERA. In 1992, he improved to 8-7 with a save and a 3.22 ERA. He followed with a 11-9, 2.93 record in 1993. In 1994, the young right-hander was 5-11 with a save and a 5.39 ERA in one of his worst campaigns. Kim went 9-5 with a 3.95 ERA in 1995.

In 1996, Won-hyung was 5-8 with a 4.12 ERA. His record was 9-9, 2.75 in 1997. Kim went 12-7 with 13 saves and a 2.52 ERA in 1998, being used regularly out of the bullpen for the first time. He finished second in the Korea Baseball Organization in ERA, trailing Myung-won Chong in the first season to feature foreign players. Kim pitched for South Korea in the 1998 Asian Games, helping the country win Gold.

Kim fell to 2-3, 4.86 with 2 saves in 1999, the first time he failed to throw 120 innings as he totalled just 37.

Moving to the SK Wyverns in 2000, Kim struggled, going 2-13 with 5 saves and a 5.81 ERA and serving up 18 gopher balls in 93 innings. He bounced back in '01, with a 9-9, 4.37 mark. His record in 2002 was 4-5, 5.25 in somewhat limited action. In 2003, the veteran was 7-7 with a save and a 3.74 ERA.

Kim went 8-6 with a save and a 4.20 ERA in 2004, finally topping 120 innings again. The SK hurler was 14-8 with a 3.41 ERA in 2005. That year, he was second in the KBO in ERA behind Min-han Son. Through 2005, Kim was tied for 2nd all-time in the KBO in losses (121), 12th in strikeouts (1,111) and 12th in wins (112).

Kim was 5-9 with a 4.07 ERA for the 2006 Wyverns. In 2007, he was 5-4 with a 4.15 ERA, returning to the bullpen. Kim's record in his 18th season, 2008, was 12-6 with 2 saves and a 3.15 ERA. The veteran hurler tied Son and Won-jun Chang for 4th in the KBO in wins, helping SK set a new KBO record for wins in a season.

Sources

• KBO Player Page
• KBO leaders (through 2005)
• Korean Wikipedia entry