The number of players nominated in the rookie draft held in June or July every year was over 1200 before the coronavirus pandemic, but in 2021 and last year, there were 612 and 616, respectively. This is because the size of the minor leagues has decreased while going through the pandemic, and each club is conducting austerity.
But that doesn’t mean the road to the major leagues has widened. still far away Last month, the number of players who signed international amateur free agent contracts reached 500 across 30 clubs. In this way, promising players from each country also jump into the farm system and take on a challenge without a promise.
Pittsburgh Pirates Shim Jun-seok held an initiation ceremony on the 27th of last month (Korean time) and embarked on a full-fledged challenge. The Pittsburgh club presented a rosy blueprint by mentioning the qualities of Shim Jun-seok in the scouting report, but there is no way to know that the reality is far from that.
Shim Jun-seok was ranked 10th and 1st within the team in the MLB pipeline’s international amateur prospect rankings this year. However, he could be pushed out of the top 1000 if he expands that to all prospects. There is no name of Shim Jun-seok in the ‘Top 100 Prospect Rankings for 2023’ recently announced by the MLB Pipeline. This is because the ranking is subject to evaluation only after the season begins and the game is played, and team senior Bae Ji-hwan also received an evaluation of 11 within the team, but did not make it to the top 100.
On the 2nd, ‘Prospects 1500’, a media specializing in major league prospects, introduced ‘Pittsburgh’s Top 50 Prospects’. Bae Ji-hwan ranked 12th and Shim Jun-seok ranked 35th. The media divided prospects into 5 grades, classifying Bae Ji-hwan as 3rd grade and Shim Jun-seok as 5th grade, the last level.
Prospects 1500 described a rating of 3 as having “an average chance of making a major league roster, and a solid contribution.” Bae Ji-hwan means that there is a high probability of hitting the major league season again this year. He’s already on the 40-man roster in the outfield. Bae Ji-hwan made his major league debut in September last year and played 10 games. 스포츠토토
Regarding Bae Ji-hwan, the media said, ‘With a typical lead-off style, he has mobility and contact ability. Hitting hits during his minor league days led to his high on-base percentage. He hit eight homers in Triple-A last year, but power-hitting isn’t the way he plays. He is a player who can be expected to steal around 30 bases and have a high batting average. Considering that he is a versatile beast in many ways, he has a good chance of making the starting lineup this year.”
On the other hand, there is no evaluation for Shim Jun-seok. ‘We need to keep an eye on them as players of interest,’ he said of the 5 rating. He just added the note that being included on the 40-man roster is an outside chance. Pittsburgh advertised extensively that a promising pitcher from Korea joined, but the actual evaluation is different.
Pittsburgh has yet to announce the rosters for the Bradenton, Fla. spring training, which starts in mid-February. Shim Jun-seok is a player outside of the 40-man roster, so he can participate as an invited player, but considering the evaluation and rankings of local media and experts, he is expected to train at a minor league camp.
Regarding Shim’s schedule this year, Pittsburgh general manager Ben Sherington said, “After spending some time in the Dominican Republic, he will be transferred to Bradenton, Florida. And when the season begins, he will join the Florida Complex League (FCL), that is, the rookie team.” said. That means starting from the bottom.