MLB.com "Ryu Hyun-jin and Kim Kwang-hyun: New Faces to Watch at Spring Camp"

On the 27th (local time), Ryu Hyun-jin spoke about his feelings wearing the Toronto uniform at the official signing press conference held at Rogers Centre, the home stadium of the Toronto Blue Jays in Ontario, Canada.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Sung-yeol] Major League Baseball's official website (MLB.com) on the 4th (Korean time) evaluated Hyun-jin Ryu (33, Toronto) and Kwang-hyun Kim (32, St. Louis) as "new faces to watch in spring camp."

The Toronto page of MLB.com stated, "Hyun-jin Ryu, Tanner Roark, Chaison Anderson, Shun Yamaguchi, Travis Shaw, and others are new faces you must know in Toronto."

Hyun-jin Ryu signed a four-year free agent (FA) contract worth 80 million dollars (about 95 billion won) with Toronto. With this, Ryu became the highest-paid player on the Toronto team for the 2020 season.

Last year, Ryu recorded the best earned run average (ERA) in Major League Baseball (ML) at 2.32 and finished second in the Cy Young Award voting. He was selected as the starting pitcher for the opening game.

He left for Los Angeles on the 2nd to participate in the spring camp held in Dunedin, Florida, USA, on the 13th.

On the previous day (the 3rd), MLB.com predicted the starting pitchers for the ML opening game and ranked Hyun-jin Ryu 13th overall among pitchers and 9th in the American League.

They added, "It is realistically difficult for Ryu to pitch 200 innings. However, when he pitches, the chances of winning are high," and evaluated, "There are not many pitchers better than Ryu."

Kim Kwang-hyun is smiling brightly at the St. Louis Cardinals signing press conference held on the 18th (Korean time) at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Kwang-hyun Kim, who signed a two-year contract worth 8 million dollars (about 9.5 billion won) with St. Louis, also received attention from MLB.com.

The St. Louis page of MLB.com reported, "During this offseason, Korean left-handed pitcher Kwang-hyun Kim was added to the 40-man roster," and "Kim will compete for a starting spot in this camp."

St. Louis has not yet decided Kim's role. He is expected to compete for a starting position with Carlos Martinez and others in this camp.

Kwang-hyun Kim, who departed for the United States on the 31st of last month, trained with his former team SK Wyverns in Vero Beach, Florida, and plans to move to Jupiter, Florida, where St. Louis has set up its spring camp.

Kim said, "Regardless of the position, I just think I have to pitch well. My goal is to be warmly welcomed when I return to Korea after the season."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.