Perrotto: Jun Seok-Shim’s Wry Smile Just Might Say It All (+)
PITTSBURGH – It was difficult to get much of a window into Jun-Seok Shim’s soul in his first news conference with the Pittsburgh Pirates. At least when it came to his words.
Shim kept his answers to a minimum on Thursday at PNC Park, which was quite understandable.
Though the 6-foot-4 right-hander from South Korea looks like he could pitch in a major-league game right now from a physical standpoint, he is just 18 years old. Shim also speaks almost no English and was talking through a translator.
However, Shim could not suppress a smile when asked what it was like to walk into a major league ballpark and realize that he someday could be calling PNC Park his baseball home.
“I’ve got a long way to go, but I’m very excited to be here,” Shim said. “I can’t wait to come here and pitch one day. This whole tour motivated me.”
Shim had a wry grin on his face throughout the press conference. It kind of felt like he knew something that nobody else in the room did.
Nobody knows for sure if Shim will become a standout major league pitcher. Yet that look sure made it seem like Shim feels he will be back in Pittsburgh someday and live to up to the $1,525,000 signing bonus in the contract he officially signed Thursday.
MLB.com ranked Shim as the 10th-best amateur international free agent in this year’s market.
Shim was limited to just 19 innings last season for Duksoo High School in Seoul because of a foot injury. Yet he struck out 32 and had a 1.42 ERA.
Shim’s fastball has been clocked as high as 100 mph. He also has an outstanding curveball and is working on making his splitter and changeup better pitches.
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The Pirates first became aware of Shim in 2020 when Foo-Chen Chong, the club’s scout in the Pacific Rim, saw video clips of Shim pitching on YouTube.
“That kind of started the process because there was a freshman in Duksoo who was throwing really hard and who could really spin the ball,” said Max Kwan, the Pirates player personnel director.
Jong Hoon Na, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ scout in South Korea, saw basically every start Shim made after that.
The Pirates’ longstanding interest in Jun-Seok Shim paid off. Their plan for developing him as a pitcher and keeping him healthy intrigued him.
“First, it’s the velocity,” Pirates international scouting director Junior Vizcaino said when asked what impressed him about Shim. “He throws really hard. The action of the baseball when he throws it, coming across the plate, some people call it hop. Some people say it looks like it’s rising. He has that ability to spin the ball so much that the ball stays in the same plane that he throws it in.
“Also, his composure. We saw him pitch, and he got into tough situations. The way he handled himself on the mound was really impressive. Besides his ability to throw the ball really hard and spin the baseball, everything else that he did the day when I saw him just said that he was handling himself well on the mound and competing really well, too.”
Shim will begin working out at the Pirates’ academy in the Dominican Republic before reporting to minor league spring training in Bradenton, Fla., next month His professional debut will likely come in the rookie-level Florida Complex League during the summer.
It is going to be a while before he gets to the major leagues – if he ever does. Yet that I know something you don’t know smile made it seem like Shim could be worth the wait.
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