Sunny Kim
Proper Name: Sun-Woo Kim
Born: September 4, 1977, Inchon, South Korea
Height: 6-1 Weight: 185 lbs.
Traded right-hander Sun-Woo Kim and cash to the Reds for future considerations.
Who knows why Kim wasn't successful in Colorado. It's a bloody mystery because he has the stuff to be a very good major league pitcher.
YEAR TEAM W L ERA G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO
2001 Red Sox 0 2 5.83 20 2 0 0 0 41.2 54 27 27 1 21 27
2002 Red Sox 2 0 7.45 15 2 0 0 0 29.0 34 24 24 5 7 18
2002 Expos 1 0 0.89 4 3 0 0 0 20.1 18 2 2 0 7 11
2003 Expos 0 1 8.36 4 3 0 0 0 14.0 24 13 13 6 8 5
2004 Expos 4 6 4.58 43 17 0 0 0 135.2 145 80 69 17 55 87
2005 Nationals 1 2 6.14 12 2 0 0 0 29.1 41 20 20 3 8 17
2005 Rockies 5 1 4.22 12 8 1 1 0 53.1 56 26 25 7 13 38
2006 Rockies 0 0 19.29 6 0 0 0 0 7.0 17 15 15 2 8 4
2006 Reds 0 1 5.40 2 1 0 0 0 6.2 7 4 4 3 0 4
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Career Totals 13 13 5.31 118 38 1 1 0 337.0 396 211 199 44 127 211
2006 salary $600,000. One-year contract. Incentives: None.
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2006
Sun Woo Kim, who originally was signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur after a bidding war that included the Toronto Blue Jays, the New York Yankees, Florida Marlins and Atlanta Braves, was traded to the Montreal Expos as part of a package for outfielder Cliff Floyd in July 2002, and then last season was claimed by the Rockies off waivers. He was given a shot to make the Rockies big league staff in 2005 because the team was going through numerous changes at the time and O'Dowd had seen some scouting reports that Kim's arm was fine. After a few appearances in the pen for the Rox, Kim was then slotted into the rotation for a couple spot starts. He showed some promise while in there and was given a regular turn for the rest of the 2005 season.
Kim throws a two and four-seam fastball, slider, changeup and has recently added a split. His stuff is dramatically different at altitude compared to at sea level. In fact, his stuff is so good away from Denver that you wonder how he could have been released in the first place. He moves the ball in and out, up and down with pitches that dance very well within the strike zone. His 2 seamer tops out at a respectable 91-92 mph. However, when pitching at Coors, he seems to lose not only the nice movement, which isn't so surprising since most pitchers have that happen here, but he also loses velocity, which shouldn't be the case. In fact, his stuff is so bad here that you cringe every time he releases the ball towards the plate because it looks so ordinary. Now for the strange part... in one of his eight starts for the Rockies in 2005, he threw a 3 hit, complete game shut out. That masterpiece was thrown here in Denver.
Go figure...
But I won't shy away from what my eye tells me, and that is his stuff is dramatically better away from Coors.
Kim will be given every opportunity to make the rotation in 2006. He is cheap, has some experience in the majors and at Coors, and he has big league stuff. Let's go out on a limb a little bit and predict that Kim may end up the season as the number 3 pitcher in the rotation.
Born: September 4, 1977, Inchon, South Korea
Height: 6-1 Weight: 185 lbs.
Traded right-hander Sun-Woo Kim and cash to the Reds for future considerations.
Who knows why Kim wasn't successful in Colorado. It's a bloody mystery because he has the stuff to be a very good major league pitcher.
YEAR TEAM W L ERA G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO
2001 Red Sox 0 2 5.83 20 2 0 0 0 41.2 54 27 27 1 21 27
2002 Red Sox 2 0 7.45 15 2 0 0 0 29.0 34 24 24 5 7 18
2002 Expos 1 0 0.89 4 3 0 0 0 20.1 18 2 2 0 7 11
2003 Expos 0 1 8.36 4 3 0 0 0 14.0 24 13 13 6 8 5
2004 Expos 4 6 4.58 43 17 0 0 0 135.2 145 80 69 17 55 87
2005 Nationals 1 2 6.14 12 2 0 0 0 29.1 41 20 20 3 8 17
2005 Rockies 5 1 4.22 12 8 1 1 0 53.1 56 26 25 7 13 38
2006 Rockies 0 0 19.29 6 0 0 0 0 7.0 17 15 15 2 8 4
2006 Reds 0 1 5.40 2 1 0 0 0 6.2 7 4 4 3 0 4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Career Totals 13 13 5.31 118 38 1 1 0 337.0 396 211 199 44 127 211
2006 salary $600,000. One-year contract. Incentives: None.
-------------
2006
Sun Woo Kim, who originally was signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur after a bidding war that included the Toronto Blue Jays, the New York Yankees, Florida Marlins and Atlanta Braves, was traded to the Montreal Expos as part of a package for outfielder Cliff Floyd in July 2002, and then last season was claimed by the Rockies off waivers. He was given a shot to make the Rockies big league staff in 2005 because the team was going through numerous changes at the time and O'Dowd had seen some scouting reports that Kim's arm was fine. After a few appearances in the pen for the Rox, Kim was then slotted into the rotation for a couple spot starts. He showed some promise while in there and was given a regular turn for the rest of the 2005 season.
Kim throws a two and four-seam fastball, slider, changeup and has recently added a split. His stuff is dramatically different at altitude compared to at sea level. In fact, his stuff is so good away from Denver that you wonder how he could have been released in the first place. He moves the ball in and out, up and down with pitches that dance very well within the strike zone. His 2 seamer tops out at a respectable 91-92 mph. However, when pitching at Coors, he seems to lose not only the nice movement, which isn't so surprising since most pitchers have that happen here, but he also loses velocity, which shouldn't be the case. In fact, his stuff is so bad here that you cringe every time he releases the ball towards the plate because it looks so ordinary. Now for the strange part... in one of his eight starts for the Rockies in 2005, he threw a 3 hit, complete game shut out. That masterpiece was thrown here in Denver.
Go figure...
But I won't shy away from what my eye tells me, and that is his stuff is dramatically better away from Coors.
Kim will be given every opportunity to make the rotation in 2006. He is cheap, has some experience in the majors and at Coors, and he has big league stuff. Let's go out on a limb a little bit and predict that Kim may end up the season as the number 3 pitcher in the rotation.
Sunny Kim Bio's:
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In the News
9/23/06.. addition.. Purplerow.com
2006 Grade:
Sunny Kim - F After performing decently for us in the last half of 2005, Kim was expected to compete for the fifth starter spot or at least a long relief role right out of Spring Training. He didn't, but thanks to injury he got the job anyway. The horror. In six appearances and seven innings with the Rockies, Kim allowed fifteen runs, twenty-five base runners and was a prime cause of global warming. Okay, so that last fact is still in dispute, but what's not in dispute that he was sent to the Springs to work things out and it took him most a season to do so, by which time we didn't need him anymore anyway. As a kind hearted professor, I will give Kim leniency and raise his grade to a passing D- if the "future considerations" we get from Cincinnati in trading him merit anything worthwhile.
9/5/06.. addition
The Rockies sent right-hander Sun-Woo Kim and cash to the Reds for future considerations on Tuesday.
"From our reports, he was not able to get on a roll and pitch at a high level for any period of time,'' Hurdle said. "We had an opportunity to move him to someone who wanted him at the major league level and didn't want to stand in his way.'' Rocky
5/09/06.. addition.. MLB.com
Right-hander Sun-Woo Kim, at Triple-A Colorado Springs on an injury rehab assignment for a shin injury, didn't exactly force his way back onto the Rockies' squad with his performance on Monday against Las Vegas. Kim gave up seven runs in the first two innings and was removed after 93 pitches in five innings, allowing those seven runs on six hits.
Kim's being placed on the disabled list had more to do with his slow start (11 runs on 12 hits in five innings) and lack of preparation time (he pitched sparingly for Korea in the World Baseball Classic) than any injury. Hurdle said aspects of Monday's performance, in front of general manager Dan O'Dowd and assistant GM Bill Geivett, raised red flags beyond the poor statistics.
4/15/06.. addition.. MLB.com
Pitching coach Bob Apodaca is working with Kim to develop "a feeling of being taller on the mound" in order to help his timing.
"By allowing himself to feel stronger, taller on his back leg, he'll be able to really get better direction with his body and in turn get better extension with his arm and that downhill plane that we're dying to see," the pitching coach said. "Everything is very, very flat, getting underneath a lot of pitches, his fastball can be in all directions right now. I'm not looking at what's happening 60 feet, although you see the end result, I'm more concerned about the first two, three feet from the rubber."
4/6/06.. addition.. MLB.com
"My arm is perfect, too strong," Kim said. "I want to pitch more. In the tournament, I threw one game against Japan and threw 94 [mph]. Then when I came to Arizona, I threw one inning after being sick, and 94, too."
3/30/06.. addition.. MLB.com
Sun-Woo said on Thursday that he "can feel it" when he bends and reaches to his left for groundballs. "He moved around pretty well," said Hurdle after Thursday's workout. "It wasn't in a game-like situation, but we tried to create some situations where he had to get off the mound and cover bases, and everything went pretty well."
3/27/06.. addition.. Rocky
He has been referred to as Sun-woo Kim, Sunny Kim and even Sonny Kim. All things being equal, Sun-woo Kim said he likes to be known as Sun-woo Kim.
"It is my name, Sun-woo Kim," the Korean right-hander said. "I will not be upset if someone calls me Sunny, but Sunny is a nickname I have in America, like BK (for fellow Korean Byung-Hyun Kim)."
2/23/06... addition.. MLB.com
Kim struggled in Washington (1-2, 6.14 ERA in 12 games). He wound up in the doghouse of demanding manager Frank Robinson, but Kim said his problems were due to internal pressure that he couldn't quite explain. The young Colorado roster -- he and Fogg are the oldest possible rotation members -- and the presence of Byung-Hyun Kim calmed him, and he found proper mechanics at altitude.
2006 Grade:
Sunny Kim - F After performing decently for us in the last half of 2005, Kim was expected to compete for the fifth starter spot or at least a long relief role right out of Spring Training. He didn't, but thanks to injury he got the job anyway. The horror. In six appearances and seven innings with the Rockies, Kim allowed fifteen runs, twenty-five base runners and was a prime cause of global warming. Okay, so that last fact is still in dispute, but what's not in dispute that he was sent to the Springs to work things out and it took him most a season to do so, by which time we didn't need him anymore anyway. As a kind hearted professor, I will give Kim leniency and raise his grade to a passing D- if the "future considerations" we get from Cincinnati in trading him merit anything worthwhile.
9/5/06.. addition
The Rockies sent right-hander Sun-Woo Kim and cash to the Reds for future considerations on Tuesday.
"From our reports, he was not able to get on a roll and pitch at a high level for any period of time,'' Hurdle said. "We had an opportunity to move him to someone who wanted him at the major league level and didn't want to stand in his way.'' Rocky
5/09/06.. addition.. MLB.com
Right-hander Sun-Woo Kim, at Triple-A Colorado Springs on an injury rehab assignment for a shin injury, didn't exactly force his way back onto the Rockies' squad with his performance on Monday against Las Vegas. Kim gave up seven runs in the first two innings and was removed after 93 pitches in five innings, allowing those seven runs on six hits.
Kim's being placed on the disabled list had more to do with his slow start (11 runs on 12 hits in five innings) and lack of preparation time (he pitched sparingly for Korea in the World Baseball Classic) than any injury. Hurdle said aspects of Monday's performance, in front of general manager Dan O'Dowd and assistant GM Bill Geivett, raised red flags beyond the poor statistics.
4/15/06.. addition.. MLB.com
Pitching coach Bob Apodaca is working with Kim to develop "a feeling of being taller on the mound" in order to help his timing.
"By allowing himself to feel stronger, taller on his back leg, he'll be able to really get better direction with his body and in turn get better extension with his arm and that downhill plane that we're dying to see," the pitching coach said. "Everything is very, very flat, getting underneath a lot of pitches, his fastball can be in all directions right now. I'm not looking at what's happening 60 feet, although you see the end result, I'm more concerned about the first two, three feet from the rubber."
4/6/06.. addition.. MLB.com
"My arm is perfect, too strong," Kim said. "I want to pitch more. In the tournament, I threw one game against Japan and threw 94 [mph]. Then when I came to Arizona, I threw one inning after being sick, and 94, too."
3/30/06.. addition.. MLB.com
Sun-Woo said on Thursday that he "can feel it" when he bends and reaches to his left for groundballs. "He moved around pretty well," said Hurdle after Thursday's workout. "It wasn't in a game-like situation, but we tried to create some situations where he had to get off the mound and cover bases, and everything went pretty well."
3/27/06.. addition.. Rocky
He has been referred to as Sun-woo Kim, Sunny Kim and even Sonny Kim. All things being equal, Sun-woo Kim said he likes to be known as Sun-woo Kim.
"It is my name, Sun-woo Kim," the Korean right-hander said. "I will not be upset if someone calls me Sunny, but Sunny is a nickname I have in America, like BK (for fellow Korean Byung-Hyun Kim)."
2/23/06... addition.. MLB.com
Kim struggled in Washington (1-2, 6.14 ERA in 12 games). He wound up in the doghouse of demanding manager Frank Robinson, but Kim said his problems were due to internal pressure that he couldn't quite explain. The young Colorado roster -- he and Fogg are the oldest possible rotation members -- and the presence of Byung-Hyun Kim calmed him, and he found proper mechanics at altitude.