Pittsburgh has been watching Jun-seok Shim, 19, closely since he was a youngster. They realized he had the potential to succeed in the major leagues. He chose Pittsburgh out of the many teams that showed interest in him because he saw their sincerity.
Pittsburgh explained in detail how they would develop him and what their roadmap was once he arrived in the United States. They even showed him their training facility. “They focused on the little things,” he says. They approached me with specifics on how to grow my future,” he said, adding, “They took care of a lot of little things, and that’s what I really liked.”
After signing Shim, Pittsburgh immediately 먹튀검증 began to unfold its plan. They gave him time to develop his balance and get in better shape, rather than pitching for a while. When he pitched out of the bullpen or pitched live, the coaching staff at the training facility would come over to watch him pitch. They made sure that he was able to do what he wanted to do.
It’s clear that he’s an important part of the organization’s future. This is evident in his prospect rankings in Baseball America and Major League Pipeline. For a player who just made his Rookie League debut, he’s ranked quite high.
On Thursday, Baseball America released an updated ranking of Pittsburgh’s top 30 prospects. Jun-seok Shim, who was ranked No. 18 shortly after signing, maintained his spot despite seeing very little playing time. Major League Pipeline ranks him 24th overall.
Among players born in 2004, only left-hander Michael Kennedy is ranked higher than him at No. 19. However, Kennedy was drafted in the 2022 First-Year Player Draft, so he has one more year of experience under his belt. Only two rookie pitchers are ranked in the top 30 by Major League Pipeline, Kennedy and Shim. It’s easy to see why Pittsburgh would want to develop him strategically.
He made his Rookie League debut as a starter. It’s a clear indication of their intent to develop him into a starter. In his first start of the season on September 9, Kennedy allowed one run in 3⅓ innings. Three walks led to the run. But Shim surprised everyone by throwing a four-inning, eight-strikeout perfect game. His fastball topped out at 97 miles per hour (156.1 kilometers per hour) and averaged over 95 miles per hour (152.9 kilometers per hour), according to officials.
Not bad for his first real start after making some adjustments to his delivery. He showed a more concise delivery, but the velocity was still there. In addition to his highly regarded curveball, he also worked on his sweeper, which has been trending in the major leagues lately. His rapid progress has given him the green light to reach his goal of being promoted to Single-A this season.
“My goal is to reach the major leagues in three years,” Shim said at the time of his major league challenge. In fact, no matter how good a prospect is, it’s not easy for a 19-year-old to reach the major leagues in three years. It takes an extremely fast promotion. However, the Major League Pipeline is projecting 2025 as Sim’s major league debut.
That seems early, but it’s not impossible if he stays injury-free. Pittsburgh is not a team with a lot of money. It’s not a team that can afford to buy a proven starting pitcher, and it’s not uncommon for aces to leave the organization in exchange for prospects ahead of free agency. That’s because the rate of promotion from the minor leagues is faster than the big clubs.
Many of the pitchers ahead of Shim in the prospect rankings are at the Triple-A level, and they are likely to be promoted to the majors at some point this year or next. If they make it to the majors in droves, there’s quite a bit of space after them, and Shim is a prime candidate for promotion in 2025. If he can stay healthy, he could make it to the big leagues sooner than we think.