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Jung-ho Kang

Jung Ho Kang Out For 6-8 Months After Knee Surgery

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9:49pm: The Pirates announced that Kang’s surgery will keep him away from competition for an estimated period of six to eight months. That would seem to make a return late in Spring Training the best possible scenario.

The procedure that was ultimately required, per the announcement, was a “reduction/internal fixation of a displaced lateral tibial plateau fracture with a lateral meniscal repair.”

6:06pm: Kang is out for the year with a significant injury, according to a report from Dejan Kovacevic of DKPittsburghSports.com (subscription required). Kang has a torn MCL and meniscus as well as a fractured tibial plateau.

That’s bad news for the playoff-bound Pirates, of course. A recovery timeline remains unclear, but the club’s offseason plans will be heavily impacted by Kang’s outlook.

1:21pm: Pirates infielder Jung Ho Kang suffered a knee injury in this afternoon’s contest when Chris Coghlan slid into second base to break up a double play effort. As Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes, Kang exited the game with the help of two trainers and did not put any weight on his left leg. To this point, the Pirates have announced only that the knee is being examined, though the injury certainly looked to be fairly serious in nature (video link).

Kang has been one of the best rookies in all of baseball this year, riding a .287/.355/.461 batting line, 15 homers, five steals and solid defense to legitimate Rookie of the Year candidacy. His outstanding rookie campaign has already more than justified the Pirates’ modest $16MM offseason expenditure (when including the posting fee), and a loss for any significant amount of time would be a huge loss for Pittsburgh as the team has pulled within four games of the Cardinals for the NL Central lead.

Pittsburgh is likely to end up in the postseason as a Wild Card team even if they don’t catch the Cardinals, but the difference between staking a season on a one-game playoff versus a best-of-five series is sizable. Without Kang, the Pirates will lean even more heavily on Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer in the infield. While Mercer has a history of reasonably productive seasons, he’s slumped to a .240/.291/.306 batting line in 2015 (including today’s two hits), so the Pirates will hope that Kang’s injury is one from which he can return in relatively short order.

Injury Notes: Nelson, Travis, Tulo, Banuelos

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A serious knee injury to Pirates infielder Jung Ho Kang will have immediate impact as the post-season nears, and that’s not the only injury to watch today. Brewers starter Jimmy Nelson exited his outing tonight after being struck in the head by a line drive. It was a scary situation, and he’s obviously being handled with extreme care, but the 26-year-old righty was able to walk off and is reportedly coherent as he heads to a hospital for treatment.

As we send our best wishes to Milwaukee, here’s the latest on some other medical situations around the league:

  • Blue Jays second baseman Devon Travis will undergo exploratory surgery on his left shoulder, as MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm was among those to report on Twitter. That will end whatever hope had remained for him to return this year. It’s unfortunate for both Travis and the Jays that he won’t have a chance to rejoin the club late in the year. Travis, 24, was a revelation for Toronto after coming over in an offseason swap for Anthony Gose. He owns a .304/.361/.498 slash over 239 plate appearances. With good baserunning and fielding added in, he was certainly one of the league’s most impressive rookies, though he’s been out since late July. His progress over the fall and winter will certainly be important as the Jays plan for next season.
  • Of course, the Blue Jays are also waiting to learn when shortstop Troy Tulowitzki will return from his own shoulder issues. As Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports on Twitter, the club is still looking for a full understanding of the situation and does not yet have a timeline. Tulo saw a specialist today in hopes of learning more. There is no indication at present that the collision which led to the injury will post any long-term difficulties for the star infielder.
  • Young Braves left-hander Manny Banuelos underwent a procedure today to remove a bone spur from his elbow, as David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (Twitter links). It went as well as could be hoped, says O’Brien, as there was no ligament damage found. The former top prospect, now 24, made his big league debut after generating solid results at Triple-A in his first season with the Atlanta organization.

Quick Hits: Phillies, Puerto Rico, Park

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Phillies president Pat Gillick will officially pass the baton to future-president Andy MacPhail in roughly 45 days, writes Jake Kaplan of the Philadelphia Inquirer. However, the first decision of the MacPhail administration was made on Thursday when the club dismissed GM Ruben Amaro Jr. Kaplan provides a look at potential candidates and names Angels assistant GM Matt Klentak as a possible favorite. Klentak, 34, fits plurality owner John Middleton’s suggestion that MacPhail “hire himself.” Klentak was also a favorite of MacPhail while both executives were with the Orioles. Former Reds GM Wayne Krivisky, Royals assistant GM J.J. Picollo, and Yankees assistant GM Billy Eppler are also names to watch.

  • Regular season games may return to Puerto Rico in 2016 for the first time since 2004, writes Bill Shaiken of the LA Times. Major League Baseball plans to honor Puerto Rican legend Roberto Clemente in a series between the Pirates and Marlins. Details are as yet unconfirmed per Shaiken’s anonymous source. The visit could include part or all of a four game set between the two clubs. Shaiken also writes about the history of talent development out of Puerto Rico. When the island was included in the Rule 4 draft beginning in 1990, clubs refocused international scouting efforts to Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. Unfortunately, the unintended consequence weakened the popularity of baseball in Puerto Rico.
  • We learned earlier today about how Jung-ho Kang’s success could influence the earning power of fellow Korean star Byung-ho Park. Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes about the “paradox” or Kang’s success. When Yoenis Cespedes and Ichiro Suzuki were acquired from their respective markets, they were a relative bargain. They were followed by Jose Abreu and Daisuke Matsuzaka respectively. In both cases, the second player earned substantially more. As such, the Pirates may be pushed out of the market for Park. Sawchik does have a word of caution. Davenport translations suggest Park may only be a roughly .249/.323/.443 hitter with 24 home runs. Teams may want to be careful about investing Abreu or Matsuzaka money in Park.

NL Central Notes: Cards, Melvin, Pirates, Kang

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The Cardinals were rumored to be looking for starting pitching depth at the deadline, but instead beefed up the relief corps in the form of Steve Cishek and Jonathan Broxton.  As GM John Mozeliak and manager Mike Matheny told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, adding quality relievers essentially becomes starting depth as it takes less pressure off the starters to go deep into games.  The new arms also will help cut down on the workload of Kevin Siegrist, Randy Choate and Seth Maness, all of whom have pitched quite often this season.  Some more from around the NL Central…

  • Brewers GM Doug Melvin told Jim Duquette and Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio (Twitter links) that he feels “the Mets have taken some unfair criticism about asking for money back in the [Carlos] Gomez deal.”  Melvin explained that teams often for money in one form or another in deals, as “it’s all part of the GM landscape these days.“
  • Brewers manager Craig Counsell isn’t sure how long his team’s rebuilding process will take, he told reporters (including Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel), as “we’re always going to be trying to win a baseball game….But evaluating it from a bigger picture is part of our jobs as well.”  Haudricourt wonders if the Brewers and their fans would be able to stomach a multi-year rebuilding effort as the Cubs did for the last few years.
  • The Pirates stuck to their recent trend of making “modest upgrades while not giving away their top prospects,” writes Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.  While getting an ace pitcher could’ve come at a big price for the Bucs and come with no guarantee of a playoff spot, Sawchik notes that the rotation is suddenly lacking depth with A.J. Burnett’s season now in doubt.
  • Also from Sawchik’s piece, he argues that Jung-ho Kang deserves a regular starting job even when Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer return from the DL.  It’s hard to argue Sawchik’s point given how Kang entered today with a .299/.372/.460 slash line over his first 312 Major League plate appearances, giving the Pirates some badly-needed help given their injury-riddled left side of the infield.

Huntington On Kang, Harrison, Kingham

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Here are the highlights of Pirates GM Neal Huntington’s Sunday chat with the media, via Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

  • The Pirates acquired versatile infielders Jung-Ho Kang and Sean Rodriguez to give Clint Hurdle more tactical options and to allow the team to be more “proactive” about resting starters, Huntington says. Both players have, perhaps, been more useful than the Pirates anticipated — Kang is hitting .304/.369/.435 and has lately worked his way into regular duty, and Rodriguez has seen plenty of time at first base as well as the outfield corners.
  • Third baseman Josh Harrison struggled early in the season after signing an extension in Spring Training, but he’s hit well recently, batting .488/.511/.714 in his last two weeks before today’s game against the Mets. “It looks like a guy that’s having fun playing the game again,” says Huntington. “Just showing up with energy every day and trying to do everything in his power to help a club win versus trying to justify.”
  • Prospect Nick Kingham has yet to get a second opinion for his elbow injury, two weeks after it was reported he was going to seek one. “Nick chose a very busy doctor. Our hope is to get him in this week, and we’ll have an update after that,” Huntington says. Kingham has not pitched since May 6, but the severity of his injury is still unclear. He was set to provide the Pirates with rotation depth this season. MLB.com ranks him the sixth-best prospect in a strong Bucs system.

NL Central Notes: Gennett, Holliday, Kang

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A season’s worth of struggles at the plate have led to a Triple-A demotion for Scooter Gennett, who has made the bulk of the starts at second base for the Brewers over the past two seasons, reports Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (via Twitter). Gennett has never been able to handle left-handed pitching, but he’s a career .313/.345/.470 hitter against righties (even including this year’s struggles). The 2015 season has not been kind to Gennett, however, who is 0-for-11 in 12 plate appearances against left-handed pitching and has produced just a .192/.236/.250 slash line against right-handed pitching. Gennett’s struggles aren’t mere early-season BABIP woes either (though some of that has been at play); the 25-year-old has 19 strikeouts in 65 plate appearances, and that 27.5 percent clip is an alarming increase for a hitter who carried a career 15.5 percent strikeout rate into the season. As Haudricourt notes, promising relief prospect Corey Knebel, acquired in the offseason trade that sent Yovani Gallardo to Texas, has been recalled from Triple-A.

More from the NL Central…

  • Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday spoke with Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about how he’s been able to survive the constant grind of 162-game seasons and perform as durably as he has throughout his career. As Goold writes, that durability is why chairman Bill Dewitt Jr. sees Holliday as a pillar of the club. Per Goold, both team and player expect Holliday’s 2017 option to be exercised, if not rolled into a lengthier extension. Said Holliday of the matter: “I’d like to play as long as I can at a high level. I’d love to play here until I’m just not ready to play. I want this to be my last spot.”
  • Jung Ho Kang made his fourth consecutive start on Sunday — his third at the shortstop position, writes Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Jordy Mercer’s struggles have led the Pirates to give more playing time to Kang, who signed a four-year deal as the first position player to successfully jump from the Korea Baseball Organization to Major League Baseball this offseason. Kang is hitting a robust .300/.367/.457, and while some have expressed concern about his defense, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle seemed confident in his abilities. Hurdles likened Kang to Jhonny Peralta, noting that while he doesn’t have the lateral range of Mercer, he is sure-handed and accurate with his throws. Brink notes that the Pirates have been translating their infield positioning notes into Korean for Kang. “Jordy’s got more experience within this league for positioning,” said Hurdle. “The only way Jung Ho’s going to get it is to continue to get out there and get those reps.”

NL Notes: Asche, Franco, Kang, Rockies

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The Phillies announced that Cody Asche will be optioned to Triple-A and converted into an outfielder. That move seems all but certain to herald the return of top prospect Maikel Franco, a third baseman. As Ryan Lawrence of the Philadelphia Daily News tweets, Philadelphia will wait until at least Friday to formally move Franco up, which will ensure that the club will add an additional year of control.

  • Meanwhile, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. says that the club is continuing to talk with other clubs, as Todd Zolecki of MLB.com tweets. “We’ve been in dialogue about a lot of things,” said Amaro. “That really hasn’t stopped since the offseason.” Obviously, with Philadelphia having long been established as a seller, plenty of homework and groundwork has already been accomplished heading into the summer.
  • Jung-ho Kang continues to produce at the plate for the Pirates, and Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says that it isn’t too soon to increase his workload. The Pittsburgh front office and field staff is favorably impressed with Kang’s effort to adapt to his new environment, both on and off the field. Colleague Adam Bittner, meanwhile, offers a counterpoint, arguing that both Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer have enough of a track record and promise in their peripherals to warrant continued patience.
  • Rockies GM Jeff Bridich addressed his club’s pronounced struggles, as MLB.com’s Thomas Harding reports. “We have a good collection of players,” said Bridich. “And at this point, meaning the last two weeks of the season, they’ve added up to a bad team.” Colorado’s head baseball decisionmaker went on to discuss the fundamental problems he sees, such as a failure to move runners and hit when runners do reach scoring position (on the offensive side) and issuing too many walks while failing to attack the strike zone (for the club’s pitchers). While there may be plenty of truth in that assessment, and while it would surely be hard for Bridich to say much else at this stage, the fact remains that a broader roster shake-up looks like an increasingly strong option for the front office to consider.

NL Central Notes: Saltalamacchia, Garcia, Kang

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After a more in-depth look at the Brewers earlier today, here’s a look around the rest of the NL Central…

  • The Reds will not pursue catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia despite an injury that could force Devin Mesoraco to undergo hip surgery, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Mesoraco will serve as a pinch-hitter/interleague DH and try to delay surgery for as long as he is able. The Reds have 8 games in AL parks over the coming two weeks, Rosenthal adds. The decision not to place Mesoraco on the disabled list is strange, to say the least, as he’s contributed a mere eight plate appearances to the Reds dating back to April 12. By opting not to place Mesoraco on the DL, the Reds have given manager Bryan Price a limited bench with which to work and prevented themselves from perhaps adding some defensive versatility or speed to the bench.
  • Oft-injured Cardinals lefty Jaime Garcia has ramped up his throwing program to a 70-pitch live BP, MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch reports on Twitter. At this point, St. Louis probably cannot count on much from Garcia, given his significant shoulder problems, but would surely welcome the opportunity to get what it can from him with Adam Wainwright down for the year.
  • The Pirates ought to seriously consider giving more time to infielder Jung-ho Kang, Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review opines. Pittsbugh’s offense has scuffled badly, of course, with shortstop Jordy Mercer and third baseman Josh Harrison among the struggling starters. It would not be surprising to see Kang appear more frequently in the lineup, particularly given that he has exhibited some promising signs with a 10.3% walk rate, 17.9% strikeout rate, and sturdy .265/.333/.412 overall batting line, along with solid-enough defensive ratings, all in a short sample. Harrison, at least, presumably has a reasonably long leash after signing a significant extension over the offseason.

International Notes: Ibanez, KBO, Park

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The Yankees held a private workout for Cuban infielder Andy Ibanez this week in Florida, Dan Martin and George A. King of the New York Post write (via Mike Axisa of River Ave Blues). Ibanez is already eligible to sign and could receive a bonus of up to around $10MM. (Ben Badler of Baseball America recently noted that Ibanez has outperformed fellow infielder Roberto Baldoquin, who received $8MM from the Angels.) The Yankees would also have to pay a 100 percent tax, since the team that signs Ibanez will be subject to international bonus pool restrictions, and the Yankees have already exceeded theirs. In addition to the Yankees, the Dodgers and Padres have been most strongly connected to Ibanez. Here’s more on baseball throughout the world.

  • Global Sporting Integration has a summary of how foreign players are doing in the Korea Baseball Organization so far this season. Many of these players will, of course, be familiar due to their histories in the Majors. Former Dodgers and Phillies reliever Josh Lindblom has pitched well as a starter for the Lotte Giants, posting a 2.81 ERA in six outings, and former big-league infielder Yamaico Navarro is hitting .224/.361/.612 for the Samsung Lions while leading the league with 11 home runs. Eric Thames, Andy Marte, Brett Pill, Henry Sosa and Nyjer Morgan have also performed well so far.
  • Pirates infielder Jung-ho Kang would love to be reunited with former Nexen Heroes teammate Byung-ho Park, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports. “We communicate a lot,” says Kang through an interpreter. “I told him to challenge himself and strive to get better.” Park, a 28-year-old first baseman, hit 52 home runs for the Heroes last year and was the KBO MVP in 2012 and 2013. He is eligible to be posted after the season, and has already been connected to the Pirates (and a number of other teams). The intensity of the Bucs’ interest in Park could depend on a variety of outside factors, including Pedro Alvarez’s performance at first base this season and the development of top prospect Josh Bell.

NL Central Notes: Brewers, Cubs, Castro, Pirates

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Here’s the latest from the NL Central…

  • The Brewers are off to a terrible start, and Fangraphs’ Mike Petriello opines that the club might not be able to turn things around given injuries, a lack of starting pitching depth and the few players who are performing well are due for regression.  Petriello suggests the team erred by taking one last run at a playoff berth and now they’ll have a tough time rebuilding immediately due to a lack of both quality prospects and obviously tradeable veterans.
  • The Cubs have been drastically overhauled by Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer, as Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper illustrates just how starkly different the team’s roster is today than it was just four seasons ago.
  • Addison Russell’s promotion to the Cubs’ Major League roster could lead to even more whispers that Starlin Castro could (or even should) be traded, yet Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times disagrees.  Castro is off to a strong start in 2015 and seems to be ever-improving, not to mention his youth (he’s still just 25) and team-friendly contract.
  • Pirates shortstop Jordy Mercer underwent tests yesterday to confirm that he suffered nothing more severe than a bruise after being struck in the chest by a Matt Garza fastball when squaring to bunt, writes MLB.com’s Tom Singer. Jung-ho Kang will again start for the Bucs at shortstop today, and GM Neal Huntington again defended the decision to keep Kang on the roster despite a lack of consistent at-bats. “Ten plate appearances, on top of 30 in Spring Training, is an awfully quick rush to judgment in our mind,” said Huntington. “…There would be nothing gained by having him play in the Minor Leagues. The best way for him to get used to hitting Major League pitching is to hit Major League pitching, albeit in a limited role.
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