Texas Rangers TWP Seong-Jun Kim followed up a brief 2025 DSL stint with a strong campaign for the ACL Rangers. The 6-foot, 185-pound Kim bats and throws right, playing shortstop and pitching. He turned 19 in May. At the Plate Kim appeared in 43 games and slashed .303/.419/.545/.964 with 7 home runs, 34 RBIs, 8 stolen bases, 24 walks and 51 strikeouts. The .419 on-base percentage stood out for a teenager in his first stateside action. On the Mound The Rangers were careful with Kim's workload on the mound, and he didn't make his first pitching appearance until June 23. In five outings, none longer than two innings, Kim went 0-1 with a 1.04 ERA across 8.2 innings, striking out 10 against 5 walks with a 1.269 WHIP. The Rangers showed the same caution with fellow two-way player Josh Owens, who also never threw more than two innings in an outing this season. Kim held opposing hitters to a .194/.324/.226/.550 line overall, and he was especially tough on right-handed hitters, limiting them to .071/.350/.071/.421. Left-handed hitters fared better against him, hitting .294/.294/.353/.647. In 50 tracked pitches, Kim leaned primarily on his four-seam fastball (54% usage, 92.6 mph average velo, 31.3% chase rate), mixing in a slider (30%, 82.1 mph), curveball (12%, 78.5 mph) and sinker (4%, 93.4 mph). Looking Ahead Kim has been in Hub City but has not yet been added to the roster there, and it remains to be seen whether he will be. If he continues to play this season, Hickory could be the next stop. Either way, his combination of plate discipline and swing-and-miss stuff on the mound gives the Rangers plenty to work with as they continue developing him as a two-way piece. How his path unfolds, whether that means settling into shortstop, the mound, or continuing to do both, will be worth tracking as he continues through the system. Kim signed with the Rangers as an international free agent on May 19, 2025. Data via TJStats.
Texas Rangers TWP Seong-Jun Kim Impressed at the Plate and Mound for the ACL Rangers
