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2015 halfway mark: Roundup of Korean baseball players in MLB

July 21, 2015

Clockwise from top left, Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Kang Jung-ho, Texas Rangers outfielder Choo Shin-soo, New York Yankees infielder Robert Refsnyder, Houston Astros catcher Hank Conger (AP Photos)

By Brian Han

Major League Baseball has passed the 2015 season’s halfway mark and while some Korean players are making a name for themselves, others are having trouble keeping up with expectations.

Starting with South Korea’s most exciting prospect, Kang Jung-ho of the Pittsburgh Pirates is finally starting to come into his own and more importantly, he now has an opportunity to regularly showcase his talents. Unfortunately it took injuries to starting infielders Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer, but we’ll be seeing a lot more of Kang as he starts at shortstop for at least six weeks.

As of Monday, Kang is batting .275 with five home runs, which includes hitting safely in nine of his last 10 games.

Houston Astros catcher Hank Conger on the other hand still isn’t getting regular playing time on his new team, but he’s pulling his weight nonetheless.

The Korean American is batting right along the .236 league average for catchers with a .233 average. His latest appearance on Saturday included a two-run shot in the ninth inning after a bench clearing-argument between him and Rougned Odor of the Texas Rangers. It was his sixth long ball of the season

The players wouldn’t talk about why the argument started, but it is believed that Conger called out Odor for taking too much time at the plate according to Bleacher Report. Neither player was ejected from the game, but the Rangers eventually won 7-6.

That brings us to one of the most recognizable Korean names in baseball — Choo Shin-soo.

The 33-year-old veteran set a record back in April after he went 5-for-52 to post up a .096 batting average, which turned out to be the worst ever in Texas Rangers franchise history for qualifying players.

Since then it’s been an unpredictable back and forth between hitting streaks and droughts with a side of some questionable defensive plays.

Choo was once regarded as an on-base machine, a hitter who had speed, power and a good eye to draw a healthy amount of walks. Now his average sits at .227, far below his career average before this season, which was just north of .280.

Now he’s batting eighth on a team that is five games below .500 and carries a bloated $130 million contract. With the trade deadline looming right around the corner, the Rangers most likely are trying to move him according to CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman. That is if anyone will take him.

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin underwent surgery in May to repair a torn shoulder ligament and will sit out for the rest of the 2015 season. As it turns out, the Dodgers and Ryu knew about the tear before he even joined the team three years ago, but figured he could pitch through it.

Even without him, the Dodgers have been putting up a good fight in the National League West while touting a 53-40 to lead their division.

Finally there’s South Korean adoptee Robert Refsnyder. The New York Yankees second baseman got to play four games with the ball club before being sent back down to Triple A.

During that time he went 2-for-12 with a home run that cleared the Green Monster at Fenway Park.

As timing would have it, the team needed to make room for Carlos Beltran who just recently finished his disabled list stint, and the Yankees chose to send down Refsnyder rather than releasing Stephen Drew or Branden Ryan with the trade deadline looming.