The Pirates activated Jung Ho Kang from the restricted list Friday and optioned him to Class AAA Indianapolis, restoring his spot on the 40-man roster and providing him a paycheck for the first time since 2016.
Kang returned to the U.S. in late April after receiving a waiver in order to get a work visa, which the State Department denied him last year after his third DUI arrest in South Korea. He worked out at the Piratesโ facility in Bradenton, Fla. and participated in extended spring training. In seven games with Class A Bradenton, he went 10 for 24 with three home runs. In four games with Indianapolis after the Pirates transferred his assignment there, he is 1 for 15.
โWe felt that it was an appropriate time after walking through it with Kang, his agent, who Iโm sure talked with the union,โ general manager Neal Huntington said. โWe felt like it was an appropriate time to reinstate him after about 45 days.โ
Kang spent all of 2017 and the first two and a half months of this season on the restricted list, earning neither salary nor service time. The Pirates will pay him slightly more than half of his $3 million salary.
Kang will play third base and shortstop for Indianapolis.
โ[Heโll] continue to work his way into playing shape,โ manager Clint Hurdle said. โHe needs to play games, he needs to have a real spring training. Thatโs what weโve got him in line to do.โ
Bill Brink: bbrink@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BrinkPG.
First Published: June 16, 2018, 12:36 a.m.
