Won-jung Kim

Won-jung Kim (김원중)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 200 lb.

• High School Gwangju Dongsung High School

• Born June 14, 1993 in Gwangju South Korea

BR register page

Biographical Information

Won-jung Kim has pitched in the Korea Baseball Organization and for the South Korean national team.

Kim was drafted by the Lotte Giants in the first round of the 2012 KBO draft. Due to injuries and military service, Kim didn't pitch for the big club until 2015. He had a 5.75 ERA in 15 appearances in his rookie year, then he spent the entire 2016 season in the minor league. He was named one of their regular starters in 2017, but Kim struggled and he had a 7-8 record with a 5.70 ERA. In the postseason, he pitched 1 2/3 innings with 3 strikeouts and 2 runs allowed in Game 3 of the second round against the NC Dinos, then pitched a shutout inning in Game 5. The Dinos eliminated the Giants in 5 games.

The Gwangju native was still a terrible starter in 2018, as he had a 6.94 ERA in 30 starts but got a 8-7 record. His ERA was the second highest in KBO history for a ERA title-qualified pitcher; only Dong-cheol Kim had a higher ERA (7.06) in 1982, the league's first year. The Giants didn't gave up and they still used him as a starter in 2019, and Kim proved they were wrong. He had a 6.15 ERA and a 5-10 record in the rotation, and the Giants finally turned him into a reliever in September. Kim pitched 14 2/3 innings with a 2.00 ERA as a bullpen pitcher in that month.

With his solid performance, the Giants named him their new closer after Seung-lak Son retired in 2020, and the decision saved his career. Kim had a 3.94 ERA in 58 appearances, and collected 25 saves. He ranked 8th in appearances (19 behind Kwon Ju) and 3rd in saves (8 behind Sang-woo Cho). Kim improved in 2021, and he had a 3.59 ERA in 61 games while collecting 35 saves. Only Son had more saves in Giants' history (he had 37 in 2017). He ranked 2nd in saves, 9 behind the legendary Seung-hwan Oh. He suffered a right leg injury in 2022, so he only collected 17 saves with a 3.98 ERA in 43 games.

Kim then made the South Korean team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. In his debut, he relieved Hyeong-jun So in the 7th inning when they had a 2-run lead against Australia but runners were on second and third. Kim struck out Alex Hall, but Robbie Glendinning then crushed a game-winning, 3-run homer. He retired Darryl George, struck out Aaron Whitefield in the next inning and Hyeon-jong Yang replaced him. Kim then relieved Yun-sik Kim in the 6th inning against champion Jaoan, but he allowed a single to Shohei Ohtani. Munetaka Murakami drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, then Masataka Yoshida hit another single and Woo-young Jung replaced him. In his last appearances of the event, Kim succeeded Young-pyo Ko against Czechia in the 8th inning. He allowed a single to Vojtech Mensik, struck out Eric Sogard then plunked Marek Chlup; Yong-chan Lee relieved him. South Korea was eliminated in Pool B.

The Lotte closer set a team record on August 2, 2023 when he got his 95th career save and passed Son. He also became the first Giants player to notch 100 career saves, reaching that mark on August 16. Kim ended up having 30 saves with a 2.97 ERA in 63 appearances, and ranked 3rd in saves (12 behind Jin-yong Seo).