Seo of Mets Likely to Take Mound

Jae W. Seo of New York Mets caught two rabbits with one stone.

In an exhibition game against St. Louis Cardinals, Seo took the mound as a starting pitcher, and left a strong impression of him. He defended the first three innings, giving out only 3 hits, 1 walk and 1 RBI. He shut out the first with only 8 pitches. In the second, he allowed a double, which led to one RBI. Other than that, he was perfect. He threw fastballs reaching up to 150km and demonstrated a stable ball control, signaling a bright future for him this season. Mets won a 14-2 victory.

In 1997, Seo went over to New York on a $1.35 million contract. Due to the elbow injury and ensuing surgeries, he had to undergo a rehab program, which lasted for 17 months. In 2001, he resumed his career.

To everyone`s surprise, he stood on mound as a reliever and shut out one inning against Cincinnati Reds in July, 2002. Last year, he recorded 6 wins (9 losses) and 3.99 ERA. Seo is good at changeup and throws excellent curves falling at a great angle. In addition, he commands a stable ball control.

On the same day, Mets announced that Pedro Astacio would not pitch for some time to come due to his shoulder soreness. Astacio constitutes one of the three star pitchers of Mets including Tom Glavin and Al Leiter. It translates into the possibility that Seo could make up for Astacio as a starting pitcher, should he maintain his excellent performance. So far, he has pitched in 3 exhibition games, and allowed 5 hits and 2 RBI in seven innings.

In the meanwhile, Sun W. Kim of Montreal Expos, who is trying to secure his status as a full time Major Leaguer, took the mound in the middle of the game against Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday, and won it. He allowed only 2 RBI and 6 hits in four innings. On the other hand, Lee Seung-hyup and Shim Jung-soo, now playing for Florida Marlines on invitation, did not record any hit against LA Dodgers yesterday.

Sang-Soo Kim ssoo@donga.com