D-backs playing a game of risk

Sporting News, The, March 10, 2003 by Ken Rosenthal

The Diamondbacks don't need righthander Byung-Hyun Kim to be their fifth starter. Miguel Batista and Armando Reynoso are perfectly acceptable alternatives, and a bullpen anchored by Kim and Matt Mantel would give Arizona a 1-2 punch to rival the Angels' Francisco Rodriguez and Troy Percival and the Astros' Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner.

It's Kim who is in need, and the Diamondbacks are honoring a promise to their former closer by giving him a chance to start--an otherwise debatable move considering that Kim converted 55 of 65 save opportunities the past two seasons (84.6 percent) and that no pitcher has made 20 or more starts the year after saving 30 games, according to STATS, Inc.

Kim, 24, is still at an early stage in his career--he is younger than Cubs starter Kerry Wood, younger than the Diamondbacks' projected No. 4 starter, rookie John Patterson. Kim has longed to be a starter since leaving his native Korea to sign with Arizona in 1999. If the Diamondbacks kept him in the bullpen, his frustration would grow to the point where he might lose his effectiveness.

The risk in starting Kim, however, is equally significant.

Manager Bob Brenly anticipates Kim will be in the rotation, barring an unforeseen meltdown or injury. General manager Joe Garagiola Jr. says Arizona will be a better club if Kim is an effective starter. But it's fair to ask whether the Diamondbacks are putting the interests of an individual--albeit a special individual--ahead of the team's. If their experiment tails, a season of promise will be in jeopardy.

Understand, now is the time to take this chance. Mantel, finally recovered from elbow ligament replacement surgery, is prepared to resume his closer's role. The bullpen is full of other righthanders--Mike Jackson, Mike Koplove and Bret Prinz, plus Batista and/or Reynoso. The strong early showings of both Mantei and Kim convinced the Diamondbacks they were on the right path.

"In the last few years, BK has been filling a role that he absolutely despised and was still one of the best in baseball," Brenly says. "It's such a joy to watch him go about his work. He's happy, contented. He's out to prove to everyone that we all made a mistake--a good mistake--the past few years."

Kim's desire to be a starter preceded his difficulties in the 2001 World Series. He was an ace starter in high school, in college and for the Korean national team. His disdain for relieving, Garagiola says, stems in part from the difference in the way relievers are perceived in his native land.

"BK explained that to me one time: In Korea, if you can't make it as a starting pitcher, you go out to the bullpen," Garagiola says. "There is a certain stigma attached to relief pitchers. I explained to him that's not true over here, that relief pitchers are big stars, make lots of money. But he feels the way he feels."

Kim says he has been uncomfortable in the bullpen the past four seasons, yet fellow Korean pitcher, Rangers starter Chan Ho Park, shrugs at the notion of a cultural gap. "He wants to be a starter. He feels better doing that than being a reliever," says Park, a seven-year veteran. "But is being a reliever embarrassing? No, it's not. Good bullpen pitchers help you win world championships."

The question now is whether Kim can adjust to starting. He doesn't like when bitters make contact, and he averaged 16.1 pitches per inning last season, which translates to a 145-pitch pace as a starter. His high pitch counts are not necessarily a physical concern--Kim is slight at 5-11, 177 pounds, but he is blessed with a rubber arm. But if he repeatedly threw 120 pitches over five innings, he would irk his defense and tax his bullpen.

Kim's concentration is another issue; he has struggled with his transition to the U.S., taking frequent naps as a seeming defense mechanism. Then again, his entire outlook might change if he is more content. Brenly says Kim finally is showing consistency in his mechanics while focusing on his sinking fastball, two different sliders and a changeup, a pitch that is critical for him against lefthanded hitters.

One danger with inserting Kim into the rotation is that Mantel might flop, forcing the Diamondbacks to try other closers if Kim is succeeding as a starter. Another danger is that Kim might flop, forcing the team to return him to the bullpen as Mantei's setup man, in effect giving him a double demotion. A third possibility is that both Kim and Mantel will flop, creating a total mess.

It's a slippery slope: The only way Kim might accept a bullpen role is if he fails as a starter, but such an outcome also could have the opposite effect, leaving him crushed. The Diamondbacks have no idea how he would react. All they know is this is their best chance to make Kim happy.

"If it doesn't work out--and this might be wishful thinking--you would hope BK would say, `All right, I've had my opportunity, I'll go back to my (bullpen) job,'" Garagiola says. "Hopefully, it doesn't come to that. Hopefully, we'll say at the end of the year, `The little guy was right all along.'"