Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Shim Jun-seok is off to a good start.
Shim Jun-seok, who belongs to the Rookie Level Florida Complex League (FCL) Pirates under the club, started on the 11th (Korean time) in a home game against the FCL Baltimore Orioles held in Pirate City, Bradenton, Florida, USA.메이저놀이터
In his professional debut game, he showed an overwhelming pitching of no hits and eight strikeouts in four innings.
Shim Jun-seok made his professional debut. Photo = MK Sports DB
From the first inning, the three batters, Alfredo Velazquez, Leandro Arias and Ryan Higgins all struck out and started lightly.
In the second inning, he struck out Kevin Guerrero with a swinging miss, followed by a center fielder line drive out of Brainin Tavera, and again struck out Aneudis Modan with a looking strikeout.
In the 3rd inning, he struck out Taudis Courtreal and Kenny Baez in a row, and ended the inning by returning Carlos Vicioso with a ground ball to first base.
In the second matchup with the top batting line in the 4th inning, he did his part by recording a fly ball in center field, a strikeout on a swing, and a fly ball in right field.
The game ended with the Pirates winning 9-4.
Shim Jun-seok attracted attention by being ranked 10th in the international prospect list last year. He is currently ranked #24 on the Pirates’ prospect list by MLB.com.
He went pro right after graduating from high school, and like other high school graduates, he starts the season at the rookie level. The rookie level, which runs with a shorter season than other levels, opened in early June.