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KBO’s Bears shore up bullpen with 2 acquisitions

December 3, 2021
Pitchers Kim Ji-yong (L) and Lim Chang-min pose in Doosan Bears jackets after signing with the Korea Baseball Organization club on Dec. 3, 2021, in this photo provided by the Bears. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Pitchers Kim Ji-yong (L) and Lim Chang-min pose in Doosan Bears jackets after signing with the Korea Baseball Organization club on Dec. 3, 2021, in this photo provided by the Bears. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

The 2021 Korean Series runners-up Doosan Bears announced Friday they’ve acquired a pair of veteran relievers to shore up their bullpen.

The Bears signed former NC Dinos closer Lim Chang-min and one-time LG Twins reliever Kim Ji-yong to one-year deals. Lim will make 120 million won (US$101,670) and Kim will earn 60 million won.

Lim was released by the Dinos after the end of the season, despite posting a solid 3.79 ERA and 17 holds across 40 1/3 innings in 46 appearances. As the Dinos’ closer from 2015 to 2017, Lim collected 86 saves, more than any other pitcher in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) in that span.

With the Dinos going in a different direction, the 36-year-old had to find a new home, and the Bears saw a veteran who could still be competitive at this level.

Lim averaged 142.4 kilometers per hour (kph) with his four-seam fastball this year, his highest velocity since 2017, and threw his slider at a career-high average of 131.1 kph.

For his 11-year career, Lim has a 3.85 ERA with 94 saves and 50 holds in 404 games.

Kim, 33, has been limited to just three games this year and four games last year, as younger relievers pushed him out of the mix following an elbow surgery in September 2018. Kim asked the Twins to release him and the club obliged.

The Bears pounced on the veteran who has been pitching since 2010. He has a career 4.73 ERA with 38 holds in 188 appearances.

Kim, who was a setup man on the Twins’ postseason squad in 2016, touched 145 kph with his fastball in a minor league game this fall.

The Bears had the third-best bullpen ERA this past season at 4.06, and opponents had a .715 on-base plus slugging percentage against them, also the third-lowest mark in the KBO.

But after setup man Park Chi-guk underwent season-ending elbow surgery in July, the Bears started to rely heavily on a quartet of pitchers — right-handers Hong Geon-hui, Lee Young-ha and Kim Kang-ryul and left-hander Lee Hyun-seung. That approach took its toll during the postseason, and the Bears got swept by the KT Wiz in the Korean Series.

Lee Young-ha, a former starter, is expected to return to the rotation next year. The Bears have some promising young pitchers who haven’t yet put it all together, and Lim and Kim, the two new faces, should provide some safety net while those younger hurlers develop.