Son of ex-KBO slugger drafted by Diamondbacks

Kevin Sim, son of a former star slugger in the top South Korean baseball league, has been drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in Major League Baseball.

The Diamondbacks selected Sim, third baseman for the University of San Diego, with their 148th overall pick in the fifth round of the annual draft.

Sim, 21, is son of Shim Chong-soo, who smacked 328 home runs in his 15-year career in the Korea Baseball Organization to rank 10th on the all-time list. In 2003, Shim, then playing for the Hyundai Unicorns, got locked in a memorable home run duel against Samsung Lions star Lee Seung-yuop. Lee finished with a KBO-record 56 home runs, and Shim, nicknamed "Hercules," had 53.

Sim was born in South Korea and moved to San Diego when he was seven years old.

Sim reached double figures in home runs in each of the past two collegiate seasons. According to MLB.com, Sim led MLB Draft Combine in hard hits (15), sweet spots (16), hard hit plus sweet spots (31), and he had the most hits over 400 feet (four) during his hitting showcase from Day 1 of workouts.

"My dad has always been a great hitter throughout his career. I worked with him nonstop hitting-wise," Sim was quoted as saying by MLB.com. "I think everything that I show on the field is all the work that you put behind the scenes together just to simplify my swing and be able to find something that works for me. There are definitely some basic philosophies that I take."

The junior Sim's last name is spelled differently than his father's, because Shim made a mistake while filling out his son's passport application and decided not to change it later. (Yonhap)