Yang Hyeon-jong

Yang Hyeon-jong (Hangul: 양현종, Hanja: 梁玹種) (born March 1, 1988) is a left-handed starting pitcher who plays for the KIA Tigers of the KBO League.

In this Korean name, the family name is Yang.
Yang Hyeon-jong
Kia Tigers – No. 54
Starting pitcher
Born: (1988-03-01) March 1, 1988
Gwangju, South Korea
Bats: Left Throws: Left
KBO debut
April 7, 2007, for the Kia Tigers
KBO statistics
(through 2020)
Win–loss record147–95
Earned run average3.83
Strikeouts1,673
Teams
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's baseball
Representing  South Korea
Asian Games
2010 Asian GamesTeam
2014 Asian GamesTeam
2018 Asian GamesTeam

Amateur career

While attending Dongsung High School in Gwangju, South Korea, Yang was considered one of the nation's best high school left-handed pitchers along with Kim Kwang-Hyun. In April 2005, he participated in the 39th President's Cup National High School Baseball Championship and eventually led his school to their first championship since 1988, alongside fellow ace Han Ki-Joo. In April 2006, Yang was 2–1 with a 1.50 ERA at the 40th President's Cup National High School Baseball Championship, leading his team to runner-up as the team's ace. In August 2006, Yang led his team to runner-up at the 36th Phoenix Flag National High School Baseball Championship where he was named best pitcher, going 1–1 with an ERA of 0.90 and leading the tournament with 32 strikeouts.

In September 2006, Yang was selected for the South Korea junior national team alongside lefty rival Kim Kwang-Hyun that won the gold medal at the 2006 World Junior Baseball Championship in Cuba. In the round-robin, he pitched four scoreless innings against the Netherlands as a starting pitcher, racking up eight strikeouts. Yang started for South Korea in the semi-final game against Canada, facing future Mariners' pitching prospect Phillippe Aumont, and hurled three innings of two-hit, one-run ball with two strikeouts to help lead South Korea to a 6–1 victory. Yang posted a 1.04 ERA in 17.1 innings pitched in the tournament, and his 18 strikeouts were the second-highest total on the team after fellow left-hander Kim Kwang-Hyun (22 strikeouts). Yang was named to the All-Star team as the best left-handed pitcher.

Notable international careers
Year Venue Competition Team Individual Note
2006  Cuba World Junior Baseball Championship 0–0, 1.04 ERA (5 G, 17.1 IP, 2 ER, 18 K)
All-Star (left-handed pitcher)

Professional career

Upon graduation from Dongsung High School, Yang was selected by the Kia Tigers in the 2nd round (1st pick, 9th overall) of the 2007 KBO Draft. He made his KBO debut on April 7, 2007, against the LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, coming from the bullpen, but allowed a solo home run in one inning pitched. He made his first start on April 12 against the Hyundai Unicorns and tossed 5.2 scoreless innings of four-hit ball. However, Yang struggled with his command and was never able to regain it to the level he had earlier in the season. At the end of May, Yang was eventually demoted to the reserve team of the Tigers. In August, the young left-hander came back to the Tigers first-team roster and pitched in relief of the Tigers' starters in the second half of the season. On September 29, 2007, Yang recorded his first professional win against the Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon, pitching five innings of two-hit, one-run ball as a starter. Yang finished his rookie season with a record of 1–2 and an ERA of 4.17 in 49.2 innings pitched, appearing in 31 games as a utility pitcher.

Yang had a disappointing sophomore season in 2008, slipping to 0–5 with a 5.83 ERA. He started the season as a starting pitcher, but struggled through five appearances with an ERA of 7.00 and was eventually relegated to the bullpen. Though frequently sent to the mound as a starter to fill a temporary void in the rotation during the season, Yang mainly pitched in relief for the Tigers, garnering 5 holds as a setup man.

In 2009, Yang had a career year. He was 9th in wins (12), 5th in ERA (3.15), 4th in strikeouts (139) and 12th in innings pitched (148.2), all of which were career bests. On August 11, he had one of his best performances of his pro career, hurling 7.1 shutout innings in which he only allowed 5 hits with no walks and struck out 10 batters against the Lotte Giants. On November 14, Yang pitched as the starter for the Tigers in the 2009 KBO-NPB Club Championship game against the Yomiuri Giants. In that game, he allowed only three hits and one run and racked up 6 strikeouts in 5.2 innings.

In 2010, Yang's ERA rose over a full point to 4.25 and gave up the second-highest number of hits in the KBO league with 169, resulting in a .272 batting average against. However, he had four more wins than the previous year, posting a 16–8 record and striking out 145 batters. Yang was runner-up in wins and third in strikeouts among the KBO pitchers in the 2010 season. He pitched his first career complete game shutout against the Samsung Lions on June 2.

Yang was posted to MLB in November 2014. However, the Tigers rejected the winning bid, feeling that it was too low. (It was reported that the Minnesota Twins or the Texas Rangers were possibly the highest bidders with a bid estimated at $1.5 million, though the exact details were never disclosed.)[1] Yang returned to the Tigers for the following season.

Yang was named the most valuable player of the 2017 Korean Series[2] and won the KBO League Most Valuable Player Award for the 2017 KBO League season.[3]

International career

He represented South Korea at the 2010 Asian Games, 2014 Asian Games, 2017 World Baseball Classic, and 2018 Asian Games.[4] He led the 2019 WBSC Premier12 tournament with 17 strikeouts.[5]

Career stats
Year Team ERA G CG SHO W L SV HLD IP H HR BB HB SO R ER
2007 Kia 4.17 31 0 0 1 2 0 0 49 2/3 39 7 31 2 48 24 23
2008 5.83 48 0 0 0 5 0 5 75 2/3 77 4 48 1 56 49 49
2009 3.15 29 0 0 12 5 0 1 148 2/3 133 14 58 2 139 55 52
2010 4.25 30 1 1 16 8 0 0 169 1/3 169 9 98 6 145 84 80
2011 6.18 28 1 0 7 9 0 0 106 1/3 116 9 69 4 74 74 73
2012 5.05 28 0 0 1 2 0 2 41 51 3 31 4 26 25 23
2013 3.10 19 1 0 9 3 0 2 104 2/3 99 10 43 6 95 38 36
2014 4.25 29 0 0 16 8 0 0 171 1/3 162 12 77 4 165 85 81
2015 2.44 32 1 1 15 6 0 1 184 1/3 150 18 78 4 157 52 50
2016 3.68 31 3 0 10 12 0 0 200 1/3 191 19 77 2 146 96 82
2017 3.44 31 1 0 20 6 0 0 193 1/3 209 17 45 0 158 88 74
2018 4.15 29 3 0 13 11 0 0 184 1/3 199 21 43 2 152 88 85
2019 2.29 29 2 2 16 8 0 0 184 2/3 165 6 33 2 163 56 47
TOTAL 3.75 394 13 4 136 85 0 9 1813 2/3 1760 149 731 42 1524 814 755

See also

References
  1. "Kia Tigers reject bid for posted pitcher Yang Hyeon-jong". Sports Illustrated. November 26, 2014. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  2. "(LEAD) Left-handed ace voted Korean Series MVP | Yonhap News Agency". English.yonhapnews.co.kr. October 31, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  3. "(LEAD) Star left-hander voted MVP of S. Korean baseball | Yonhap News Agency". English.yonhapnews.co.kr. November 6, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  4. "2018 자카르타-팔렘방 아시안게임 야구 국가대표팀 최종 엔트리 확정" (in Korean). Korea Baseball Organization. June 11, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
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