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#pounditThursday, March 28, 2024

Jung-ho Kang reportedly denied visa to enter US, may not play for Pirates in 2017

The Pittsburgh Pirates are getting an unpleasant surprise just a little over a week before Opening Day.

Korean baseball writer Sung Min Kim reports on Friday that Pirates infielder Jung-ho Kang was not granted his visa to enter the United States and may not be able to play for the team in 2017.

Kang, who will turn 30 next month, batted .255/.354/.513 with 21 home runs and 63 RBIs for Pittsburgh in 2016, a year after finishing third in National League Rookie of the Year voting. He recently entered a treatment program after a DUI arrest in December in his native South Korea, his third such arrest since 2009. Kim also adds that there’s suspicion Kang may have been convicted of DUI in a country other than the United States and South Korea.

The soon-to-be 34-year-old David Freese will likely be asked to fill in if Kang is indeed out of commission, giving the Pirates a more reliable glove but a lower-upside bat.

Image via MLB on YouTube

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