S. Korean teen prospect wants to follow in footsteps of Dodger greats

South Korean high school pitcher Jang Hyun-seok poses in his Los Angeles Dodgers jersey at his introductory press conference at Seoul Dragon City hotel complex in Seoul on Aug. 14, 2023. (Yonhap)

As one of the storied franchises in Major League Baseball (MLB), the Los Angeles Dodgers have produced a long line of great pitchers.

South Korean teen pitching prospect Jang Hyun-seok, one of the newest members of the Dodgers organization, said Monday he will try to follow in their footsteps.

Jang was introduced as a Dodger at a press conference in Seoul on Monday, five days after agreeing to an international signing bonus of US$900,000.

Widely considered the best high school pitcher in South Korea this season, Jang could well have been the No. 1 overall selection at this year’s Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) draft. The product of Masan Yongma High School instead chose to pursue his big league dreams.

As with virtually all teenage prospects, Jang, 19, will start out in the low rungs of the minor leagues and try to work his way up to the majors.

“Right now, my goal is to reach the majors as quickly as I can,” Jang said. “But I’ll first have to see how I can handle the move to the U.S. I could also get injured, so it’s hard to say at this point exactly how many years it will take me to get to the big leagues.”

The Dodgers have a strong history of Korean players. Right-handed pitcher Park Chan-ho, the first South Korean to play in MLB, made his debut with the Dodgers in 1994 and earned an All-Star selection in 2001. Left-hander Ryu Hyun-jin led the majors in ERA and finished second in the National League (NL) Cy Young Award balloting in 2019 for the Dodgers. Ryu, who’s currently pitching for the Toronto Blue Jays, was also the NL starter at the 2019 All-Star Game.

Jang, who has struck out 52 batters in just 29 innings so far this season while allowing three earned runs on nine hits, said he will try to be the next in line.

“If I make it to the majors, I’d love to be a part of the starting rotation like Park Chan-ho and Ryu Hyun-jin,” Jang said.

Jang also cited Clayton Kershaw, a modern day Dodger legend who won three Cy Young Awards, an MVP award and five ERA titles between 2011 and 2017.

Jang also said he has been closely studying Yu Darvish, one-time Dodger and current San Diego Padre. They are similar types of pitchers, in that both are big-bodied right-handers who throw hard but can also mix in offspeed pitches effectively.

“I’ve studied his videos from his days in Japan and also in the majors,” Jang said of the former Nippon Professional Baseball star who has been in the majors since 2012. “I like his delivery and mechanics, and I’ve been trying to learn from the way he pitches.”

As for the big league hitter he’d like to face in the future, Jang chose another Japanese star: Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels.

“He’s the best hitter in the majors, and we’re both from Asia,” Jang said. “He’s the player I admire the most after Yu Darvish.”

Ohtani will become a free agent this season and the Dodgers are said to be the front-runners to sign the Japanese two-way sensation.

Ohtani leads MLB in on-base plus slugging with 1.073, thanks in large part to his American League-best 41 home runs. Ohtani sits fourth in the AL with 165 strikeouts as a pitcher.