Kim Kwang-Hyun

Infobox KBO player
bgcolor1=#cc0000
bgcolor2=black
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=white
name=Kim Kwang-Hyun
position=Pitcher
team=SK Wyverns
number=29
bats=Left
throws=Left
birthdate=birth date and age|1988|7|22
debutyear=2007
debutdate=April 10
debutteam=SK Wyverns
statyear=2008
stat1label=Win-Loss
stat1value=17-11
stat2label=Earned run average
stat2value=3.06
stat3label=Strikeouts
stat3value=168
teams=
*SK Wyverns (2007–present)

Kim Kwang-Hyun (Hangul: 김광현, Hanja: 金廣鉉) (born July 22, 1988 in Ansan, Gyeonggi-do) is a South Korean left-handed starting pitcher who plays for SK Wyverns in Korean professional baseball league.

Amateur career

Kim attended Ansan Technical High School in Ansan, South Korea. In 1994, he led his team to the first national championship ever, pitching four-consecutive complete game victories in the tournament with a 0.96 ERA, and was named MVP.In 1995, he was selected for the South Korea national junior team that was runner-up at the 6th Asian Junior Baseball Championship in Seoul, South Korea. Kim earned two wins against Chinese Taipei, and pitched a no-hitter in 5 innings against Japan.

In 1996, he was selected for the South Korea national junior team again and competed in the 22nd World Junior Baseball Championship in Havana, Cuba. He led his team to the gold medal. Kim tossed a five-hit shutout in a 1-0 victory over Taiwan in the quarterfinal, and pitched two wins over Canada in the semifinals and USA in the final. He was named MVP and selected to the All-Star team at pitcher.

Notable international careers

Professional career

Signed by the SK Wyverns, Kim made his professional debut on April 10, 2007. He was in the Wyverns' starting pitching rotation for most of the 2007 KBO season. Although his performance was inconsistent, he showed signs of promise as a rookie, including pitching a one-hit victory in 7 1/3 innings over the Doosan Bears, facing MVP Daniel Rios in the 2007 Korean Series.

On January, 2008, Kim was selected for the South Korea national baseball team and participated in the Beijing Olympic Qualification Final Tournament held from March 7 through March 14, 2008 in Taichung, Taiwan. There he helped his team win a spot in the Beijing Summer Olympics by starting two times and going 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA.

At the 2008 Olympic Games, Kim contributed to his team's victories as results of 1-0 with a 1.26 ERA and 12 Strikeouts in 3 games. In the semifinal game against Japan, he gave up one earned run and six hits in eight innings for Korea to get the victory. Kim did not allow a runner past first base after the 3rd inning, when Japan scored on a walk, a sacrifice and a single by Norichika Aoki.

Japan Killer

Including the victory over the Chunichi Dragons at the 2007 Konami Cup, he has been leading his team to victories in all the games against Japanese baseball teams without any failure since he lost to the Japan national junior team in the gold-medal game at the 2005 Asian Junior Baseball Championship.

Notable international careers