Dae-Eun Rhee & Hak-Ju Lee Story in Korean Newspaper

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Very in depth article: http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2898712

 

I didn't know Hak-Ju had TJS too.

 

Seems a bit premature to say this:

 

Rhee, 19, and Lee, 18, will join the Peoria Chiefs, the low Single-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs in 2009

 

but I can hope!

 

Rhee said his goal is to end the 2009 season in the Double-A affiliate in Tennessee. And he will be armed with a new weapon in his pitching arsenal.

 

“I will throw splitters this year,” Rhee said, referring to the split-finger fastball, which travels like a normal fastball and suddenly drops off toward the home plate.

 

“I first threw splitters in my high school senior year. I relied on changeup pitches this past season but I am going to give splitters a chance.”

 

...

 

Wilson was especially effusive of Lee, saying, “No matter where you’re scouting, it’s hard to find a shortstop who hits left handed and who is an above-average runner. He has all the tools that can help get him to the big league.”

 

Wilson added, “It’s going to take a lot of hard work on his part, but I think as he starts to mature and grow stronger, he’s going to have the kind of bat that can make him the legitimate leadoff hitter in the majors.

 

“He is going to be an exciting player at the major league level, someone who can give teams a little bit of fits on bases because he has a really good feel for stealing bases,” Wilson continued.

 

“We like the way he plays the game. It’s hard to find players like him.”

 

Shinsano at East Windup Chronicle commented on the article:

 

I’ve been in Seoul along with Nao Masamoto, who’s here to check up on the player’s offseason workout routines, Steve, and Sung Min-kyu, who is of course Korean, and has been placed in a roving hitting instructor position for next year.

 

...

 

Today Nao will meet with Jung Soo-min and Ha Jae-hoon in Busan. Jung was in Arizona for a short time in the fall, but Ha’s team had an important tournament, so he’s never met Nao. They’ll stay in Korea into February. As I’ve said before they’ve been friends for a while and have even been sharing an apartment close to their gym.

 

The Steve there is Steve Wilson, the Cubs Pac Rim scout.

[OleMissCub]

that's a hell of a thread title

[Transmogrified Tiger]

He's going from changeup to splitter AFTER having elbow surgery?

[Guest]

that's a hell of a thread title

 

There, I added a few more English words to the title. :)

[fromthestretch]

He's going from changeup to splitter AFTER having elbow surgery?

 

Yeah, that's a bit surprising. The splitter is pretty hard on the elbow.

[craig]

Nice article, cal, thanks for finding and posting this and other stuff like that.

 

Very helpful to get the personality insights. Too bad that Lee had surgery too. Hopefully they will be "like oil changes" and they'll both come back better than before. Article seems to confirm that Lee scouts as a pure shortstop, not as a guy who'll have outgrown the position by the time he fills out a little bit. Hopefully his arm post-op will bounce back enough that he can stay there, and not need to move to 2B or LF on account of his arm.

[RammyFanny]

I've been excited for Hak-Ju since we signed him, so i'm looking forward to his debut, wherever it will be.

[Guest]

Does anyone read Korean?

 

http://osen.freechal.com/news/view.asp?code=G0812120075

 

http://osen.freechal.com/news/view.asp?code=G0812090067

 

The only thing I could get out of those articles were these pics of Dae-Eun Rhee:

 

http://osimage.freechal.com/Data/Image/2008/12/12/200812121553151102_1.jpg

 

http://osimage.freechal.com/Data/Image/2008/12/09/200812091004301102_1.jpg

 

Apparently Dae-Eun Rhee is expected to start throwing once gets to Arizona later this month.