“Shim Jun-seok (19) is a player compared to Park Chan-ho (50).”
High school right-hander Shim Jun-seok is expected to realize his dream of becoming a major leaguer soon. The American sports media ‘The Athletic’ reported on the 12th (Korean time) that ‘the possibility of Shim Jun-seok signing with the Pittsburgh Pirates is growing’. Pittsburgh has shown great interest to the extent that a high-ranking official from the club personally visited Korea to watch Shim Jun-seok pitching.
Shim Jun-seok is a promising player who drew attention with his fastball, which reached 157 km at the maximum speed during his time at Deoksu High School. Although the overall first pick in the 2023 KBO Rookie Draft was likely, he gave up his draft application and chose to go directly to the United States. Several major league clubs have been steadily analyzing Shim Jun-seok, and it seems that his contract with one of two or three clubs, including Pittsburgh, will continue.
The Athletic said, ‘Shim Jun-seok is a top-notch pitcher ranked in the top 10 overall in MLB.com’s prospect evaluation (last October’s international amateur draft rankings). His fastball velocity is around 95 miles per hour (about 152 km), and he can throw close to 100 miles per hour (160 km). He introduced that he can also throw a curveball, slider and changeup.
Comparisons continued with Park Chan-ho of the ‘Korean Express’. The Athletic said, ‘Shim Jun-seok is a player compared to Park Chan-ho. Park ended his 카지노.big league career with Pittsburgh in 2010,’ he explained.
Park Chan-ho is the first Korean major leaguer. He began his big league career with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1994 for a contract of $1.2 million. Until 2010, he pitched in 476 games in 17 big league seasons, recording 124 wins (98 losses), 1993 innings, and an average ERA of 4.36, remaining a legend to junior pitchers dreaming of playing on the American stage.
It is of interest how much Shim Jun-seok will receive if he goes to Pittsburgh. The major league international amateur contract signing pool will be initialized on the 15th, and according to The Athletic, Pittsburgh can spend $5.82 million (about 7.2 billion won) this time.
Industry insiders predict that Shim Jun-seok will be able to collect more than 1 million dollars as a down payment as he is evaluated as a top-notch pitcher. Since Shim Jun-seok is working hand in hand with Bora Corporation, a powerful agency in the US, it is predicted that he will get a good enough contract.