This past Thursday, the Pittsburgh Pirates re-signed 3rd baseman and shortstop Jung-Ho Kang to a one-year contract worth $3 million.

In January of 2015, the Pirates signed Kang to a four-year contract worth $11 million.

Kang appeared in 126 games during his first season, hitting 15 home runs, batting .287, and finishing 3rd in National League Rookie of the Year voting.

Near the end of September, his season was cut short after suffering a knee injury on a slide.

He came back in 2016 where he hit 21 home runs with 62 runs batted in.

In December of 2016, Kang was arrested in his homeland of South Korea for a DUI. This was his third DUI, and as a result, he lost his visa for the United States. Kang had to miss the entire 2017 season for the Pirates.

In 2018, Kang was granted a visa for the United States again. He played in the minor leagues for a good part of the 2018 season until he was called to the majors for the last series of the season. He got two hits in six at-bats in those games.

The Pirates re-signed him to be a platoon player with Colin Moran, and to give him one more chance to prove he belongs in the MLB.

“I worked really hard to get back to this point and stay healthy, and I think Neal and Clint have really honored that,” Kang said. “They understood what kind of work I put in so far. So I’m really appreciative of that and I’d like to show my good response to that and stay healthy during the offseason…”