Rangers two-way prospect Seong-Jung Kim is embracing latest challenge

The Texas Rangers farm system got a boost, rising from No. 25 in MLB Pipeline's preseason rankings to No. 20 in the August update, thanks in large part to the superb draft class Chris Young put together. Those new additions to the system help, but what will raise the profile even more is the performance of some of the younger, high-variance chips as they climb more and more rungs on the ladder.

One player who is doing just that is one of the most exciting and intriguing prospects in the entire system, two-way player Seong-Jun Kim. Kim was signed out of Korea last season at the tender age of 18, drawing lots of excitement as the top-rated youngster from that country. Even more enticing is the fact that he has a chance to be a legitimate two-way player in the future.

Kim isn't alone. The Rangers also drafted Providence Academy product Josh Owens in the third round of last year's draft, giving them a pair of teenage two-way players to dream on.

The pair have been brought along slowly, but both started to show real signs of progress in the Arizona Complex League earlier this season. Now, though, it's Kim showing out. The 19-year-old pitcher/shortstop was named an ACL All-Star and has since been promoted to Single-A Hickory where he's showed out in the short time that he's been there.

Rangers' Seong-Jun Kim is turning heads after being promoted to Single-A Hickory, but many questions remain

Kim has made two appearances on the mound for the Crawdads, tossing four innings and striking out six while allowing two walks and no earned runs. That brings his season total on the mound to seven appearances and 12 2/3 innings with a 0.71 ERA and 32% strikeout rate. He's walked a few too many batters, coming in at a 14% clip, but otherwise he's been dominant in that limited action.

In the batter's box, he's struggled a bit more since his promotion, but again, the opportunities have been limited. He's only recorded 12 plate appearances so far, drawing one walk and getting two hits (a single and a double) over 11 at-bats.

However, you can likely expect that to turn around. In the ACL, Kim slashed .303/.419/.545 with seven homers and eight steals over 160 plate appearances. The one concerning thing was the 31.9% strikeout rate he carried with him during that span.

The range of outcomes is wide for most prospects, but even more so for someone so young and with so much on his plate. It's possible one side of the game develops much faster than the other, and he gives up the whole two-way player thing. There's also the potential for him to stall out completely, which would be unfortunate but not uncommon, especially for a prospect who is so young.

With that said, the sky is the limit, and it's nice to see that he's already had a few highlight moments in the brief time he's been playing against Single-A competition. It's a long road ahead for Kim, but Rangers fans should be excited about what his future may hold.

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