Kwon Hyuk
Overview
Kwon Hyuk (권혁, born 1983) is a former South Korean professional baseball player and baseball commentator who pitched as a left-handed pitcher. He played mainly as a middle reliever and closer for the Samsung Lions and the Hanwha Eagles of the KBO League, and is regarded as one of the league's representative bullpen arms who took the mound consistently over a long period. Having experienced both Samsung's golden era in the 2000s and Hanwha's rebuilding period in the 2010s, he is counted among the players who ran through the entire arc of KBO League history.
Key Details
Profile
- Born: 1983
- Nationality: South Korea
- Position: Pitcher (left-handed)
- Clubs: Samsung Lions (2002–2014), Hanwha Eagles (2015–2022)
- Signature pitches: fastball, slider, curveball
- Nickname: the "iron arm" (철완) of the left-handed bullpen
Kwon Hyuk was a prototypical left-handed pitcher who, rather than overpowering stuff, was the type to eat long innings based on steady command and game management. He showed strength against left-handed batters, and his stamina in maintaining his stuff even when pitching on consecutive days with short rest was cited as a strength.
Playing Career
Samsung Lions Days (2002–2014)
Kwon Hyuk debuted on the professional stage when he joined the Samsung Lions in 2002. Early in his career he took on a swingman role shuttling between the rotation and the bullpen, but he gradually established himself as a core middle-relief arm for the team. At the time, Samsung repeatedly won the Korean Series in the mid-to-late 2000s to build a "dynasty," and Kwon Hyuk played an important role in that process as a left-handed setup man. In particular, he was evaluated as having done more than a mere "left-handed specialist," taking responsibility for outs by being brought in at key moments against left-handed batters.
Hanwha Eagles Days (2015–2022)
After the 2014 season ended, when Bae Young-soo (배영수) moved to the Hanwha Eagles as a free agent (FA), his original club Samsung sent Kwon Hyuk to Hanwha as the compensation player. From his first year after the move, Kwon Hyuk served as the backbone of the Hanwha bullpen, reinforcing the team's previously weak late innings. Depending on the season he alternated between closer and setup man, handling a variety of roles, and he remained a symbolic veteran of the period when Hanwha rose from the lower ranks to the middle of the standings. He continued his playing career until the early 2020s before retiring as an active player.
Playing Style
Kwon Hyuk's greatest strengths were consistency and his ability to shoulder a heavy workload. Season after season he took the mound in a large number of games while holding his place in the rotation without major injury, and for this he earned a reputation among fans as a bullpen arm you could "trust and use." His fastball velocity was not among the league's best, but the angle on his slider and his command that stabbed at the inside corner against left-handed batters were effective. He was also evaluated as having a high level of completeness as a pitcher, thanks to good fundamentals such as fielding and holding runners.
After Retirement
After retiring as an active player, Kwon Hyuk has been working as a baseball commentator, taking part in game broadcasts and baseball-related broadcast content. Drawing on his experience as a bullpen pitcher during his playing days, he has built recognition with commentary that explains pitcher management and mound strategy, and he has also appeared on various baseball talk programs and in interviews.
Namesakes
"Kwon Hyuk" is not a particularly common name, but there are figures with the same name in fields other than baseball. However, the figure most widely known to the public is Kwon Hyuk, the former professional baseball player, and this document focuses on him.
Recent Trends
As of 2024–2025, Kwon Hyuk is broadening the scope of his activities as a commentator. As the KBO League fully introduced the Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS) and the methods of pitcher management and bullpen usage changed rapidly, demand has grown for analysis from commentators with bullpen backgrounds and rich on-field experience like him, which is cited as part of the background. In addition, as his former team the Hanwha Eagles grew into a team with postseason competitiveness in the mid-2020s, behind-the-scenes stories of the Hanwha bullpen from the period when Kwon Hyuk was with the club drew renewed attention. Recently, he has also been appearing as a guest on new-media baseball content such as YouTube and podcasts, sharing episodes from his playing days and his theories on pitcher development.
Related Topics
- [[KBO League]]
- [[Hanwha Eagles]]
- [[Samsung Lions]]
- [[Bae Young-soo]]
- [[Relief pitcher]]
- [[Korean Series]]