The South Korean baseball club Samsung Lions said Friday they remain undecided on what to do with their two pitchers that face gambling suspicions.
The Lions were scheduled to announce on Friday whether or not they would use starter Yun Sung-hwan and reliever An Ji-man during the ongoing Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) preseason. Ahead of the Lions’ game against the Kia Tigers in Gwangju, however, Samsung manager Ryu Joong-il said he would need to take more time.
“It’s so tough because it’s a sensitive issue,” he said. “The regular season is just around the corner, and we would like them to get into a couple of games to stay sharp. But the front office and I have a hard time deciding when we should use them.”
Yun and An, along with a third Samsung pitcher, Lim Chang-yong, faced overseas gambling charges last fall. They were all left off the Lions’ roster for the Korean Series, the championship final for the KBO.
Lim has since been released by the Lions and was fined for his charges. However, Seoul police said earlier this week they are not close to wrapping up their investigation into Yun and An’s charges.
The regular season will open on April 1. Ryu said both pitchers are ready to pitch in live games, and they are also eager to get back into the swing of things.
“It’s been five months (since the allegations surfaced),” Ryu went on. “I don’t know how much longer we should wait for police (to finish their investigation). It could take a year or two. The best case scenario would be to have it end quickly.”
Ryu said he and the management will go back to the drawing board to determine when they feel would be the right time to play the two pitchers.
The Lions may want to operate under the presumption of innocence, with neither pitcher having been convicted, and benching them could be seen as a way of punishing the players for crimes they haven’t been convicted of committing.
Yet they will most likely face a harsh backlash from the public, as critical fans have argued that Yun and An have no business playing baseball until their suspicions are cleared.
Both were integral parts of the 2015 Lions team that clinched the franchise’s fifth consecutive pennant. Yun led the club with 17 wins, and An picked up 37 holds while going 4-3 with a 3.33 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 78 1/3 innings. (Yonhap)
