Kim Seong-hyun


Kim Seong-hyun is a former South Korean pitcher who formerly played for the Nexen Heroes and the LG Twins in the KBO League. He batted and threw right-handed.

Amateur career

Kim enrolled at Daegu High School in 2005, but he transferred to Jeju Tourism High School after the 2005 season.
After sitting out the first half of the 2006 season as required under the Korea Baseball Association rules for transfer students, Kim subsequently became the top right-handed starting pitcher at the high school level, hurling a four-hit complete game shutout with 13 strikeouts on June 30, 2006 in the first round of the Golden Lion Flag National Championship.
Kim became the first Korean high school pitcher ever to pitch a 10-inning no-hitter on July 14, 2007 in the second round of the Daebung Flag National Championship. In that game, he tossed 11.2 scoreless innings but gave up a hit in the eleventh inning and the game was not considered an official no-hitter.

Professional career

Kim was drafted 13th overall in the 2008 KBO First-Year Player Draft by the Woori Heroes. He collected his first pro league save on April 3, 2008, against the Hanwha Eagles, throwing one shutout inning. However, Kim was demoted from closer to setup man in a week. Kim finished the season with a 4.03 ERA and a 0–4 record with one save in 38.0 innings pitched, spending the majority of his rookie season in the Heroes' second team.
In 2009, Kim recorded two wins, earning his first win as a starter on May 31 against the Lotte Giants, but finished the season with a disappointing 6.99 ERA in 65.2 innings pitched.
In 2010, Kim's first full season with the Heroes, he moved into the starting rotation and finished with a 7–8 record and a 4.90 ERA in 90 innings, earning the second most wins among the Heroes' pitchers behind Adrian Burnside. After the 2010 season, Kim was selected for the South Korea national baseball team to compete in the Intercontinental Cup held in Taichung.
On Feb 28, 2012. He arrested by a court of Daegu as intentionally losing games. On March 6, 2012, he was banned from any professional baseball activities and was released by LG with former pitcher Park Hyun-june.

Notable international careers