After striking gold with the acquisition of closer Chang-yong Lim in 2008, Tokyo again dipped into the South Korean talent pool and came away with a potential starter in Hye-cheon Lee.
The hard-throwing lefty has yet to secure a regular spot in the rotation after having a rather rocky start in NPB. He’s already been dropped to, and subsequently resurfaced from, the farm team twice, and now he appears to be fine-tuning his game as a semi-regular middle reliever.
Stats
| - | GP | W | L | HP | IP | H | HR | WP | BB | HBP | K | RA | ERA | Avg. | K/9 |
| Tokyo | 15 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 16 2/3 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 3.24 | .246 | 5.40 |
HP=Hold points; RA=Runs allowed; Avg.=Opposing team’s batting average; K/9=K’s per 9 innings
He has recently shown himself to be a much more reliable bullpen arm, and he has largely managed to keep runs off the board since his second call-up from farm duty. His ERA is now back down in the realm of the expected/reasonable, and it seems that there’s a good chance that we’ll see a lot more of number 49 during the second half of the season.
Hopefully he’ll be able to challenge some of the other guys on the team for a spot on the rotation. The rotation is still taking shape, so the fourth and fifth slots are up for grabs, Mr. Lee looks to be in good position to take advantage of this opportunity.
About Christopher Pellegrini
