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Cards Set Roles For Kwang Hyun Kim, Carlos Martinez

By Jeff Todd | July 20, 2020 at 9:01pm CDT

The Cardinals have settled upon some pitching roles for the outset of the season, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch was among those to cover on Twitter. Newly inked southpaw Kwang-Hyun Kim is headed to a high-leverage relief role, while right-hander Carlos Martinez will step back into the rotation.

This represented one of those good problems in need of resolution. Lacking any health issues to drive a decision, the Cards had to take their pick between two rather appealing choices to round out the starting staff.

Kim inked a two-year, $8MM deal under which the club also posted a $1.6MM fee to his former KBO outfit. Kim was sharp in Spring Training, throwing eight scoreless frames with 11 strikeouts and just one walk. While he made his mark as a starter in Korea, Kim will have to earn his way back into the rotation in St. Louis. Alternatively, he could etch out a prominent gig at the back of the pen, perhaps as a closer.

There’s a model to follow in Martinez himself, who was a high-quality MLB starter for years before health issues intervened. He ended up being shifted back into the pen, where he rung up saves in half of his 48 appearances in 2019. Now, the talented 28-year-old will get a chance to reestablish himself as a starter. It makes sense that the club elected to give him another crack at the rotation. Beyond his established ceiling in that role, Martinez is owed $11.5MM in 2021 with two high-priced club options to follow.

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St. Louis Cardinals Carlos Martinez Kwang-Hyun Kim

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29 Comments

  1. throwinched10

    5 years ago

    Kim would be filthy as the 5th starter.

    3
    Reply
    • 17dizzy

      5 years ago

      Kim would be the better starter between
      Martinez and himself. Martinez’s head fills up with toys in his head after the first jam he gets in. Yadi would appreciate having Kim over Martinez as a starter. Yadi wouldn’t have to go to the mound to chew but to get Martinez back into reality.

      Reply
  2. Peart of the game

    5 years ago

    Honestly, I’d rather have both Kim and Martinez in the rotation and use Dakota Hudson as a long reliever.

    1
    Reply
    • DarkSide830

      5 years ago

      Hudson was great last year. i wouldn’t mess with that.

      4
      Reply
    • CowboysoldierFTW

      5 years ago

      Agree with you 100%

      Reply
    • tominco

      5 years ago

      Hudson would be wasted in long relief. And with the early roster size this season do you really need a long reliever.

      1
      Reply
    • paddyo furnichuh

      5 years ago

      Some of his peripherals(BABIP, strand rate) indicate he’s due for some regression.

      1
      Reply
      • Jbigz12

        5 years ago

        .274 BABIP and a 78% strand rate??

        Those aren’t unsustainable. Maintaining that performance while walking nearly 5 per 9 is the larger impediment I see. High GB pitchers like Hudson can erase those walks with double plays though. Certainly possible for a guy like that to have a higher strand rate.

        1
        Reply
    • cards04

      5 years ago

      He is a contact pitcher who is very effective in getting weak contact. He was good last year. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it

      Reply
  3. troll

    5 years ago

    kim will be ruined
    carlos is ruined already

    Reply
    • notyourfriend

      5 years ago

      Haha troll go brrr

      Reply
  4. zpgreen

    5 years ago

    They should just go with a 6 man rotation. That way you don’t blow out arms in a shortened, abnormal season without the proper ramp up period. Then you can maximize the innings splits. Especially with increased roster sizes and the fact that they are missing 2 of their important bullpen pieces in Hicks and Brebbia.

    3
    Reply
    • Lanidrac

      5 years ago

      That’s why they’ll have stricter pitch counts at the beginning of the season. Besides, you don’t want limit how often Flaherty pitches.

      Also, with those missing bullpen pieces, why would you then thin out the bullpen even further by taking away another reliever to be an extra starter?

      Reply
      • clayram83

        5 years ago

        Because the extra starter means each starter gets more rest and can pitch deeper into games. That’s the idea, at least. It depends if you think that giving your starters an extra day of rest will let you squeeze an extra inning or two out of them.

        Reply
        • Lanidrac

          5 years ago

          There’s not going to be much of an effect there, and what little effect there is there is more than made up by having an extra arm in the bullpen.

          Reply
    • cards04

      5 years ago

      This means Flaherty gets less starts. Hate it

      Reply
  5. eephus11

    5 years ago

    Kim doesn’t have much of a scouting report yet in MLB. After the short season in a relief role he can join the rotation next season and force teams to learn his stuff again in the new role. Martinez starting in a short sprint will be the perfect way for him to stay focused and prove he belongs in the rotation. If it doesn’t work out it can always be altered.

    2
    Reply
  6. DarkSide830

    5 years ago

    still no defined closer?

    Reply
    • JFactor

      5 years ago

      Do they need one or something?

      Reply
    • stan lee the manly

      5 years ago

      Shildt said that Kim has first crack at closer.

      2
      Reply
    • cards04

      5 years ago

      Who said there has to be a closer named. Clubs have used multiple depending on rest in the past years

      Reply
  7. AZPat

    5 years ago

    Both players will be traded before the end of August.

    Reply
  8. Four4fore

    5 years ago

    Kim will be ready when we see if Mikolas elbow is truly healed.

    Reply
    • stan lee the manly

      5 years ago

      Mikolas didn’t have an elbow problem, it was tendonitis in his forearm.

      Reply
      • Peart of the game

        5 years ago

        Forearm issues tends to be a symptom of a torn UCL

        Reply
        • stan lee the manly

          5 years ago

          That does not mean that he had an elbow injury. He didn’t, the MRI was clean. Hence the tendonitits diagnosis. Every tendonitis case is not a UCL problem

          Reply
    • n2thecards

      5 years ago

      I hope his arm is okay. The limited rampup has us all concerned, right?

      Reply
  9. Natecbar

    5 years ago

    Flaherty is too good too only be starting once every 6 days

    Reply
  10. fannclub6

    5 years ago

    Given the Cards luck and history, there will be an injury and KK will be a starter within 2-3 weeks

    Reply

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