Jung Ho Kang's first season back in the United States may be over before it even really started. Kang, who was granted a visa in April after his third DUI conviction in South Korea prevented him from entering the country in 2017, is out four to six weeks after undergoing surgery on his left wrist.
Naver Sports, a Korean news outlet, reported early Friday morning that Kang was out for the season, but the Pirates released a statement saying that was not the case. Kang had surgery Friday in Pittsburgh to remove cartilage from his wrist, which will prevent him from returning until next month.
Kang played only nine games with Triple-A Indianapolis and seven with High-A Bradenton. He was expected to begin a rehab assignment with the latter Tuesday, but had reoccurring symptoms and was shut down. Now, it will be difficult for him to return to the majors this season and the Pirates will decide this offseason whether to pick up his team option for $5.5 million or pay a $250,000 buyout to cut ties with the 31-year-old third baseman.
Todd Tomczyk, the Pirates' director of sports medicine, has told reporters the club is unaware of what caused the wrist injury, which Kang notified Indianapolis' trainers about June 20. Kang appeared to be on pace to return to the majors, having a three-hit, three-RBI game against Norfolk one night earlier.
Kang rested and returned to play two games until he was placed on the disabled list. He had eight hits in 34 at-bats for the Indians and had only one double with five RBIs. When spring training begins in February, Kang will have missed two full seasons and will have not played more than 105 games in the majors since his rookie season in 2015.
He returned to the United States in April and reported to Pirate City days later, where he worked out on the back fields to prepare himself to a return to the major leagues. Kang told reporters in June he was "not touching a drop of alcohol" and described his previous 20 months as humbling.
On Jan. 16, 2015, the Pirates signed Kang to a four-year, $11 million contract with a club option for 2019 and paid Nexen a $5 million posting fee for Kang’s rights. He batted .287 with 15 home runs, 58 RBIs and .816 OPS in 2015, helping the Pirates win 98 games and finishing third in National League Rookie of the Year voting.
Upon returning from a knee injury in 2016, Kang batted .255 with an .867 OPS, hitting 21 home runs with 62 RBIs in 103 games. Kang crashed a BMW through a guard rail in Seoul, South Korea on December 1, 2016 and was later convicted of driving under the influence. He received an eight-month suspended sentence in March 2017 and lost an appeal two months later.
The U.S. State Department ruled Kang permanently ineligible to obtain a work visa after the third DUI.