Lim escapes shaky Major League debut
Published: 08 Sep. 2013, 21:02
He did more than keep his promise on Saturday, throwing 10 straight fastballs in his first appearance with the Chicago Cubs at storied Wrigley Field.
The 37-year-old Major League rookie allowed a hit and a walk over two-thirds of an inning of bullpen work against the Milwaukee Brewers.
“I tried to give the first batter a fastball on every pitch,” Lim said at a media briefing with a swarm of Korean reporters, many of whom originally came to the United States to cover Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“It was my first time on the mound [in the Major League], so I was a little erratic,” Lim said.
Called into the game in the seventh inning with one out and the Cubs trailing, 4-3, Lim threw a 146 kilometer per hour (91 mph) fastball to Sean Halton. It was a ball. His next seven pitches were all fastballs.
Halton walked and the next batter, Norichika Aoki, saw two more fastballs from Lim, one for a strike. He then threw a changeup, the only breaking that delivered in the game. Aoki, Lim’s former teammate with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, hit a fastball off Lim through the left side of the infield for a single, sending Halton to second base.
Lim escaped the inning by getting Brewers infielder Jean Segura to hit into a double play.
Milwaukee went on to win, 5-3.
The big league proved to be tough for Lim, who recorded a solid 0.79 ERA in his 11 1/3 innings at Iowa, the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate.
Still, the rocky debut could not detract from the excitement and enjoyment of his dream-come-true moment, which the Gwangju native had played over and over in his mind since he first picked up a baseball.
His 18-year stint in professional baseball, including five stellar years in Japan, was, in a way, a process to realize his childhood dream of playing in the big leagues.
But there was no flicker of emotion - at least not on the surface. “I spoke to myself that, ‘Wow, this is the beginning,’” he said, recalling the moment when he first stood on the mound Saturday.
The side-arm pitcher made it onto the 40-man roster of the Cubs on Wednesday after several months in the minor leagues. Lim, who reached a two-year deal with the Cubs in December, pitched 22 1/3 innings in 21 games with Class A, Double-A and Triple-A teams. He compiled an ERA of 1.61.
Lim had having Tommy John ligament replacement surgery last year, and he acknowledged that he has plenty of room for improvement.
“I think I am not 100 percent yet. Maybe 80 percent? It will get better gradually, I think,” he said.
BY MOON GWANG-LIP [joe@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)