Rockies Deal Kim Sun-woo to Reds

Kim Sun-woo (29) will be pitching in a new uniform. He was traded yesterday to the Cincinnati Reds from the Colorado Rockies where he was teamed with another Korean pitcher Kim Byung-hyun (27).

Cincinnati is Kim’s fourth team since he went to the U.S. in 1998 when he was a sophomore of Korea University. Kim, who made his debut in Major League in 2001 while he was on Boston Red Sox, moved to Montreal (current Washington) during the 2002 season and became a Cincinnati player in 13 months after changing his team to Colorado Rockies on August 6 last year.

Cincinnati is where Bong Joong-geun (26), who returned to LG Twins this year, played. The Cincinnati Reds, founded in 1876 as one of the first major league teams, is a reputable team with a long history that changed its name from “Red Stockings” because its players wore red socks to “Cincinnati Reds.”

Cincinnati won the World Series five times (1919, 40, 75, 76, 90) but failed to move up to the post season for 11 years since it won the division title in 1995. Cincinnati is in the national league central division and is in second place with 69 wins and 70 losses after Saint Louis by six games as of yesterday. Cincinnati can still hope for the postseason as it is tied for fourth following the San Diego in first place by 3.5 games in the race for the wildcard.

Kim can’t pitch in the post season even if Cincinnati wins the wildcard because he moved to Cincinnati in September, but had his name placed on the major league 40-player list.

Cincinnati announced on its homepage that Kim will be a starting pitcher in a home game against San Francisco on September 7.

Kim, who recorded six wins and three losses with a 4.90 ERA last year, was demoted to the minor leagues with 19.29 ERA and no wins and losses during six pitching outings as a set up man in Colorado in the first half of this year. Kim’s record in Triple-A Springs was eight wins and six losses and 5.05 ERA. If Kim starts a game on September 7 as planned, he will face Barry Bonds, who has hit 730 homers in his career.

why@donga.com