The Pittsburgh Pirates are reportedly very close to signing 18-year-old righty Jun-seok Shim, according to Daniel Kim.
Jun-seok is considered the best pitching prospect in Korea and was expected to be the number one overall pick in the KBO draft last year until he withdrew to pursue a career in the MLB.
Shim currently ranks 10th overall on the international prospect ranking list and 2nd for pitchers.
He has a large build listed at 6'4" and 215 lbs, which gives him the ability for a plus fastball to headline his arsenal.
His fastball consistently can sit at around 94-96 mph, but he's even thrown as hard as 100 mph in tournament play in Korea.
He also features a 12-6 curveball, slider, and changeup with impressive command of all his pitches.
It's a good look for Ben Cherrington as he continues to remain aggressive in the international free agent market after signing two of the top 25 international prospects last year, Yordany De Los Santos and Tony Blanco Jr.
The Pirates have a history of Korean players in their organization, formerly with Jung-ho Kang and Hoy Park and now currently Ji-man Choi and Ji-hwan Bae.
