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| St. Louis Cardinals' lefty Kim Kwang-hyun pitches a ball during the exhibition game against Kansas City Royals at the Bush Stadium in St. Louis, July. 23. / Korea Times files |
By Jhoo Dong-chan
St. Louis Cardinals' closer Kim Kwang-hyun has joined the team's rotation as his teammate, starter Carlos Martinez, was ruled out for an unknown reason.
Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said during a conference call with reporters that he has assigned Kim as the team's fourth starter in the rotation. He added the team's five starters are now Jack Flaherty, Adam Wainwright, Dakota Hudson, Kim and Daniel Ponce de Leon.
Under his naming order, Kim is expected to make his first big-league starter debut on Monday against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Shildt did not state why he pulled Martinez from the rotation, but the 28-year-old pitcher is rumored to have contracted COVID-19. The Cardinals announced earlier that seven of its players and six other employees are confirmed to have contracted the disease. The team's star catcher Yadier Molina said he's among the Cardinals to test positive for the coronavirus.
A number of experts said before the season that Kim would win a spot in the five-man rotation this season as he displayed his quality during the spring and summer camps. Kim was an MVP-winning starter in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) for 13 years.
Despite his outstanding performance during the offseason, Kim was named as the team's closer last month. He has no regular-season saves during his KBO career.
Kim signed a two-year $8 million deal with the Cardinals in December after 13 successful seasons with the SK Wyverns in the KBO.
