Byung-Hyun Kim can be found in no man’s land.
The Korean sidearmer is not projected to make a start in Colorado’s last four games before the July 11-14 All-Star break even though he last pitched six scoreless innings as a starter on Monday. Yet, the right-hander is not listed as a reliever by the Rockies either.
“We’ve got six starters,” Colorado manager Clint Hurdle said at one point during Wednesday’s pregame meeting with reporters.
Just don’t mention the ‘R’ word in reference to Kim. In 17 relief outings this year, Kim owns a 0-3 record and 7.84 ERA with 21 walks and 18 strikeouts.
As a starter, Kim has gone 2-4 for a 5.46 ERA with 39 strikeouts and 13 walks.
Kim was forced out of the rotation with Wednesday’s activation of Shawn Chacon from the 15-day disabled list.
“We’d like to get him off the mound before the end of the weekend so he can stay on some continuity of work,” Hurdle said of Kim. “We told him it wouldn’t be a relief appearance, it would be pitching off the mound in a game. But not starting. Semantics are everything.”