The Pittsburgh Pirates announced Shim’s injury on April 22 (Korea time). Shim was listed on the 60-day injured list.
Shim was famous as a fast-pitching pitcher when he was a high school student. He also shot a maximum speed of 157 kilometers per hour. Having received attention from both Korea and the U.S., Shim did not participate in the 2023 KBO League Rookie Draft and declared his bid for the U.S. stage.
And they joined hands with Pittsburgh. The down payment was not disclosed, but Pirates Prospects said Shim Jun-seok signed a down payment of 750,000 U.S. dollars.
Shim, who achieved his dream of entering the U.S., pitched eight innings in the Rookie League last year, recording an ERA of 3.38. He struck out 13. He made his debut on June 11 last year. At the time, Shim started the game against the Baltimore Orioles and successfully completed his debut with eight strikeouts and no runs in four innings.
However, he finished the season early after four games due to injury.
Nevertheless, there are high expectations for Shim in the U.S. MLB.com announced the rankings of promising players by team in March, and Shim was ranked 18th, four notches down from last year’s 14th.
The media evaluated Shim Joon-seok’s pitching with 60 fastballs, 55 curves, 45 sliders, 45 changeups, 45 control, and 45 overall points (out of 80 points), and analyzed, “Sim Joon-seok only played in four rookie league games in the aftermath of his injury last season, but he showed impressive performance for a short period of time.”
Despite the favorable evaluation, Shim was injured again. Although the injury was not revealed yet, it seems to be a minor injury as it is on the 60-day injured list. The team is off to a shaky start from the start of this season.