PITTSBURGH (AP) -Right-hander Byung-Hyun Kim, demoted to the minors by Colorado earlier this season, will move into the Florida Marlins’ rotation and is expected to start Friday at Tampa Bay.
Kim, who has pitched for Triple-A Colorado Springs most of the last month, will replace Wes Obermueller in the Marlins’ rotation – at least for now. Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez made up his mind to start Kim even before the right-hander arrived in Pittsburgh on Tuesday to join his new club.
“I think he’d be OK with that,” Gonzalez said. “We’ll see how he feels. We’re looking at Friday – I may be talking out of the side of my mouth – but that’s our plan.”
The Rockies and Marlins swapped ineffective pitchers on Sunday, with former Florida closer Jorge Julio going to Colorado for Kim, the one-time Arizona Diamondbacks closer known for his submarine delivery. Kim was primarily a reliever most of his first four major league seasons with Arizona starting in 1999, and again with Boston in 2003, but has mostly started since 2004 with Colorado.
Kim was 1-2 with a 10.50 ERA in three games this season for the Rockies, one of them a start, before Colorado sent him down in mid-April. He was 1-1 with 2.96 ERA in five games, all starts, with Colorado Springs.
“I feel he can help us there – he’ll give us a different look,” Gonzalez said of Kim, who was 5-12 in 2005 while splitting time between the bullpen and the rotation and 8-12 in 27 starts last season. “He’s done well in that spot, as opposed to the bullpen thing.”
Even before Kim joined his new team, Gonzalez talked to Obermueller and told him of the plan. Obermueller is 1-2 with a 3.28 ERA in five games, four starts, this season.
“He’s going to the ‘pen,” Gonzalez said. “We’ve spoken to him. He’s great, he’s outstanding. He’s going be our long guy or whatever we use him for.”
Obermueller hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any of his five appearances, but has lasted only five innings in each of his last two starts and hasn’t pitched longer than six innings.
Kim had 19 saves for Arizona after closer Matt Mantei was injured in 2001, then had 36 saves in 2002. But Kim is best known for giving up a combined three home runs as Arizona lost late-inning leads in consecutive nights in the 2001 World Series against the Yankees. Despite Kim’s problems, the Diamondbacks came back to win the Series in seven games.
Gonzalez also gave the slumping Miguel Cabrera a rest Tuesday, not starting him for only the third time this season. Cabrera, second in last year’s NL batting race, was hitless in his last 15 at-bats.
“For me, definitely, he needed a little breather,” Gonzalez said. “I just saw frustration I haven’t seen before. When good hitters get frustrated, and he’s getting himself out, you need a little breather.”
When telling Cabrera he was going to rest, Gonzalez said he surprised the third baseman by asking him to prepare to manage – though he was only kidding.
“I’m going to sit and watch him manage,” Gonzalez said. “I said to him last night, `You need a breather?’ He was OK with it. I said to him, `You know the signs, the throwover signs or the bunt signs?’ He said, `No, but I can learn them.’ I said. `All right, good, he’s going to manage.”’
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