Cardinals' Kwang Hyun Kim: Focuses on lower-body training

Kim, who enters spring training slotted into the No. 2 spot in the Cardinals' starting rotation, focused on training his lower body this offseason in an effort to improve his command, Zachary Silver of MLB.com reports. "[I learned] from last year that command is really important in this league," Kim said Wednesday. "... To better get the command [this offseason], I focused on my lower body, so that when I pitch, my upper body and lower body flows like water."

The left-hander was an immediate hit in his first season stateside following a successful career in the Korean Baseball Organization, posting a 3-0 record, 1.62 ERA and 1.03 WHIP across 39 innings over eight appearances (seven starts). Kim also held either handedness of hitter to sub- .200 averages and posted an impressive 0.7 HR/9, but with a sub-par 5.5 K/9, he headed into the offseason looking to improve his ability to miss bats and believes more efficient lower-body mechanics will help him achieve that goal. Kim is also in a somewhat advantageous position as a second-year pitcher due to the uniqueness of the 2020 schedule, as he'll get the benefit of another season as a largely unknown quantity to a substantial allotment of hitters since he only faced other NL Central teams in his debut campaign.