San Francisco Giants: Who is Jae-gyun Hwang?

The San Francisco Giants are reportedly keeping a keen eye on free agent infielder Jae-gyun Hwang, but who exactly is Jae-gyun Hwang?

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The San Francisco Giants already made their splashy signing, but they may not be done adding to their roster. According to Fox Sports’ Jon Morosi on twitter, the Giants are “showing continued interest” in free agent infielder Jae-gyun Hwang out of Korea.

That’s not exactly a familiar name in baseball circles. When the Giants inked Mark Melancon to a four-year contract worth about $62 million, nearly everyone knew who that was. But, who is Jae-gyun Kwang? Let’s figure it out.

Hwang is a 29-year-old infielder from South Korea, and has spent 10 seasons playing in the Korean Baseball Organization. He split his first three-and-a-half seasons between two teams (the Hyundai Unicorns, and the Woori/Nexen Heroes), but became a star after joining the Lotte Giants partway through the 2010 season.

2014 was his big breakout year, when he hit .321/.391/475 with 33 doubles, 12 home runs, and stole 17 bases. He followed that up with another great campaign in 2015, hitting 41 doubles and 26 home runs while slashing .290/.353/.521. 2016 was his best year yet, slashing .335/.399/.570 while setting career-bests with  27 home runs and 113 RBI. He also added 25 stolen bases. He finished top-15 in the league in home runs, RBI, average, slugging percentage, and steals.

2016 also saw Hwang improve his strikeout rate, cutting it from 20.5 percent in 2015 down all the way to 11.8 percent in 2016. His walk rate took a slight jump, going from 8.1 percent in 2015 to 8.8 percent in 2016.

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Over his 10 years in the KBO, Hwang hit .286/.353/.436 with 115 home runs, 594 runs batted in, 223 doubles, and 173 stolen bases. In 2016, he was teammates on the Lotte Giants with former San Francisco Giant Justin Maxwell.

Hwang made headlines back on July 2nd, 2015 for unleashing a monster bat flip after hitting a game-tying home run in the top of the ninth inning.

Should the Giants take the chance on Hwang, he would likely start the season as a bench option. The right-handed hitter has experience at third base and shortstop, and it wouldn’t be inconceivable to think he could play second base and first base, as well. With depth in the outfield looking somewhat questionable, they might be privy to seeing if he could handle playing the outfield (mostly left field) on a reserve, as-needed basis.

If he proves himself a capable hitter against big league pitching, then his playing time should see a spike.

The KBO is known as being an extreme hitter-friendly league, so don’t expect his numbers to directly translate to Major League Baseball. A Jung Ho Kang-like impact is probably out of the question, as Kang was a top superstar in the KBO, but there is reason to believe that Hwang could at least be a serviceable player to a Major League team. His lowered strikeout rate and good walk rate are promising, and his speed is something that many teams could find use for. Also, though his power likely won’t be the same as it was in Korea, it will still make him a threat.

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Hwang is a free agent, so he doesn’t require any posting. Teams are free to negotiate with him as they please. He was posted during last year’s offseason, but drew no bids. After probably his best season yet in 2016, he likely would have drawn some bids this year, had posting been necessary.