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Pirates’ Kang Jung-ho 3rd in Sporting News’ NL ROTY voting

October 27, 2015

Pittsburgh Pirates’ Kang Jung-ho of Korea, prepares to take the field during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers in Pittsburgh, Sunday, April 19, 2015. Kang took over at shortstop when Jordy Mercer was hit by a pitch and left the game. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

By Brian Han

By now Kang Jung-ho’s season ending knee injury is old news, but that shouldn’t take away from the fact that he exceeded almost everyone’s expectations in his rookie year with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The shortstop posted a .287 average with 15 home runs and 58 RBIs while providing solid fielding capabilities as a utility infielder.

It was enough to put him in third place for Sporting News’ National League Rookie of the Year award behind San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Duffy and Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant who pretty much won by a landslide with the most votes.

He proved that a position player from South Korea’s KBO league can hang with Major League Baseball’s elite. In fact, he is the first ever to make the transition.

Before coming to the states, he made it clear he wanted to challenge the Cincinnati Reds fireball of a closer Aroldis Chapman who regularly throws a 100 to 105 mile per hour fastball.

“I can only be a great player if I can hit Chapman,” Kang had said at Seoul’s Incheon International Airport before . “I want to see for myself how hard he can pitch.”

When he faced him for the first time in May, he ripped a 102 mile per hour heater into left field for a double.

He claimed that he should be in the starting lineup over Jordy Mercer before the season began, which may have rubbed some teammates the wrong way.

But by the second half of the season, he did start regularly. He did so as one of the best hitters on the team. So much so that he was given Rookie of the Month honors by the MLB after batting .379 to give his team a mid-season push for a playoff spot.

The 28-year-old South Korean had knee and leg surgery back in September after a hard collision at second base while turning a double play.

Because of the timing, he may not be back for spring training or even the season opener.