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Kang Jung-ho most valuable MLB rookie so far in 2015

August 4, 2015

Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Kang Jung-ho fields a groundball during a game. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

By Brian Han

Major League Baseball (MLB) is enjoying a strong rookie class, and one important stat shows Pittsburgh Pirates’ Korean shortstop Kang Jung-ho may be the best of the crop so far.

Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant made a racket in spring training by leading all players with nine home runs in just 40 at-bats. His performance resulted in a baffling .425 batting average. When the 23-year old didn’t make the opening day roster after being sent down to Triple A, the MLB Players Association released an official statement, which read, “Today is a bad day for baseball.”

The Cubs called him up after seven minor league games during which he hit three more homers while batting .321. Since then he has batted third in the team’s lineup for the majority of the season.

Then there’s Joc Pederson who was deemed “a superstar in the making” by Los Angeles Dodgers hitting coach and home run legend Mark McGwire. The 23-year-old rookie slugged 21 home runs in his first 100 games. At 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds, he has the third furthest hit ball this season at 480 feet. That distance only trails two 484-foot home runs by Miami Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton who may be the strongest man in baseball listed at 6-foot-6 and 240 pounds of muscle.

Both Bryant and Pederson made it onto the All-Star team, but another rookie who didn’t make that roster has proven to be more valuable to his ball club than any other rookie so far in 2015.

Of all the players that have debuted this season, Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Kang Jung-ho boasts the highest Wins Above Replacement (WAR) rating at 3.5 as of Aug. 3 according to ESPN.

WAR is a measurement that takes a player’s offensive and defensive metrics and combines them into one number that represents that player’s overall statistical value. It can get complicated, but it’s a formula that’s being used more and more by teams and sports analysts.

Even more impressive is that Kang has the second highest WAR rating of all MLB shortstops and fifth highest for third basemen.

Kang’s lackluster spring training and early season woes brought a lot of skeptics out of the shadows who thought he should be sent down to the minors, but Manager Clint Hurdle and General Manager Neal Huntington stuck to their guns and at the moment they have every right to say, “We told you so.”

“We think the best way for him to get better is by playing at the major league level,” Huntington told reporters back in March according to the Post Gazette. “He’s done everything to prove himself at every level but the major league level. The only way he can do that is by playing at the major league level.”

“He’s getting better with experience,” Hurdle said of Kang in May according to MLB.com. “A lot of good things are happening.”

Before the season began, the South Korean told Yonhap News Agency that he hoped to get a chance to face Cincinnati Reds flamethrower Aroldis Chapman – a pitcher feared by even the best hitters. On May 6, Kang lined a 102 mile-per-hour fastball from Chapman for a double. It was a small moment in the context of a 162-game season, but it was a sign that he belonged.

Kang came over from South Korea with years of experience under his belt. As a shortstop he hit 40 home runs with a .356 average during his final season in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO).

In 2015 he is hitting .294 with eight home runs under his belt and most projections have him finishing with about 12 by the end of the regular season.

He’s certainly not going to come close to the numbers he put up back home, but at this point it doesn’t matter. He is establishing value in every game he plays with both his glove and his bat for a team that needs him around especially with injuries to Pirates infielders Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer.

Kang also leads rookies with .367 on-base percentage for players who have had at least 100 plate appearances on the season.

2015 MLB Rookies Ranked by WAR

1. Kang Jung-ho, Pittsburgh Pirates – 3.5

2. Matt Duffy, San Francisco Giants – 3.4

3. Randal Grichuk, St. Louis Cardinals – 2.8

4. Carlos Correa, Houston Astros – 2.8

5. Kris Bryant, Chicago Cubs – 2.6

6. Devon Travis, Toronto Blue Jays – 2.5

7. Joc Pederson, Los Angeles Dodgers – 2.2

8. Nick Ahmed, Arizona Diamondbacks – 1.8

9. Addison Russell, Chicago Cubs – 1.5

10. Billy Burns, Oakland Athletics – 1.3