by Rany Jazayerli
June 7, 2000

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=612



Byung-Hyun Kim arrived on American soil last spring and brought a new pitch,
the submarine slider, with him. This year, he's proving that his cup of
coffee last season--just 20 hits allowed in 28 innings while striking out
31--was no fluke. Though he lost the Diamondbacks’ game on Sunday, allowing
his first home run of the season in the process, Kim has a 2.03 ERA in his
rookie season, allowing just 15 hits in 27 innings with an amazing 45
strikeouts.

Kim’s ratio of 15.19 strikeouts per nine innings would be a major league
record for any pitcher with 25 or more innings:


Name             Year      IP     K     K/9

Billy Wagner     1999    74.2   124   14.95
Armando Benitez  1999    78.0   128   14.77
Billy Wagner     1998    60.0    97   14.55
Billy Wagner     1997    66.1   106   14.38
Rob Dibble       1992    70.1   110   14.08

Kim has been so effective that despite his lack of experience, he was used by
Buck Showalter as the Diamondbacks’ closer while Matt Mantei was on the DL.
Kim already has six saves this season, which is significant because the role
of closer is so rarely handed to one so young. Kim is just 21 years old, and
closers are almost always 25 or older. In general, any pitcher with an arm
good enough to close at a younger age is still a starting pitcher.

The most career saves by a pitcher before age 23:


Name             Saves

Terry Forster      70
Billy McCool       48
Victor Cruz        31
Neil Allen         30
Gregg Olson        27

Terry Forster is primarily remembered for his weight and his offensive
prowess, as in "that fat tub of goo can hit." Forster’s .397 career average
in 78 at-bats is a major-league record for anyone with more than 45 at-bats.
But as a rookie in 1972, Forster saved 29 games, posted a 2.25 ERA and tossed
100 innings without allowing a single home run.

Since 1980, only two pitchers as young as Kim have recorded as many as eight
saves: Mitch Williams, with eight in 1986 and Kelvim Escobar, who saved 14
games down the stretch for the Blue Jays in 1997. Escobar, of course, was
then moved to the starting rotation the following season and hasn’t recorded
a save since.

In fact, it is rare for a pitcher so young to be used as a reliever, period.
Only 12 pitchers in history have relieved in 60 or more games before they
turned 22. The top six:


Name              Relief Appearances

Billy McCool             154
Terry Forster            143
Victor Cruz               93
Erv Palica                82
Dick Welteroth            81
Mitch Williams            80

Erv Palica pitched for the Dodgers in the late 1940s, and held on long enough
to pitch for the Orioles in 1955-56. Dick Welteroth was brought to the majors
in 1948 by the Washington Senators and quickly dispelled any notions that he
was a major-league pitcher, retiring in 1950 with a remarkable 145 walks and
55 strikeouts.

Kim needs only 56 appearances to crack the top five, and has a chance to
reach the top three before year’s end.

It’s hard to get a sense of what Kim’s future might bring, as history
provides us with so few young, dominating relievers with which to compare him
. But consider this: only three relievers age 21 or younger have appeared in
50 or more games in a season and struck out at least a batter an inning:
Terry Forster, Billy McCool...and Pedro Martinez.

Hmmm. Maybe Kim’s future shouldn’t be in the bullpen after all.