Lim Chang-yong

Lim Chang-Yong
Tokyo Yakult Swallows – No. 12
Closer
Bats: Right Throws: Right
KBO debut
June 18, 1995, for the Haitai Tigers
NPB statistics (through 2009)
Win-Loss	6-9
Saves	61
Strikeouts	102
ERA	2.50
Stats at Baseball Reference
Teams
Haitai Tigers (1995-1998) (KBO) Samsung Lions (1999-2007) (KBO) Tokyo Yakult Swallows (2008- present) (NPB)

Lim Chang-Yong (Korean: 임창용; born June 4, 1976 in Gwangju, South Korea) is a South Korean right-handed closer who plays for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in Nippon Professional Baseball. He is widely known as the fastest submarine pitcher in baseball history who can throw a 100 mph fastball with a late 80s sinker and forkball.

Lim made his pro debut in 1995 with the Haitai Tigers in Korea Baseball Organization, and has been regularly picked for the South Korean baseball team as a relief pitcher since the 1998 Asian Games, and won the bronze medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics and two Asian Game gold medals in 1998 and 2002.

Though predominantly known as a closer, Lim was converted to a starting pitcher in 2001, and spent three years as the Samsung Lions' starter before returning to the bullpen in 2004. There was interest from Major League squads but Lim decided to stay in South Korea.

In late 2007, Lim was signed by Japan's Tokyo Yakult Swallows in the hopes of bolstering their weak bullpen. In the 2008 NPB season, he recorded 33 saves (5th in the NPB league) with a 3.00 ERA in 51 innings pitched.

In the 2009 NPB season, he recorded a 0.00 ERA for a few months and also featured in the 2009 NPB All-star Game as a closer for the Central League team. He was sent down to the reserve squad after his ERA rose to a whopping 1.84 in a short stint, but came back to strengthen up Yakult's weak bullpen, which was responsible for its recent losses.

Lim Chang-yong

Medal record
Men's baseball
Representing South Korea
Olympics
	2000 Sydney	Team
World Baseball Classic
	2009 Los Angeles	Team

External links

• Nippon Professional Baseball career statistics from JapaneseBaseball.com
• Lim Chang-Yong - Tokyo Yakult Swallows Official Website (Japanese)
• Lim Chang-Yong - Samsung Lions Official Website
• databaseolympics

Tokyo Yakult Swallows roster
First team				Second team
Pitchers 12 Taichi Ishiyama 20 Naofumi Kizawa 24 Tomoya Hoshi 34 Kazuto Taguchi 39 Peter Lambert 40 Hirotoshi Takanashi 43 Daiki Yamamoto 44 Hiroki Ohnishi 45 Reiji Kozawa 47 Keiji Takahashi 48 Yuto Kanakubo 58 Mike Baumann Catchers 27 Yuhei Nakamura 32 Naoki Matsumoto 57 Taijiro Yano		Infielders 00 Yoshihiro Akahane  1 Tetsuto Yamada  5 Shingo Kawabata  7 Hideki Nagaoka  8 Eigoro Mogi 10 Takeshi Miyamoto 13 José Osuna 38 Takumi Kitamura 55 Munetaka Murakami 60 Ryusei Takeoka 63 Shu Masuda Outfielders  3 Haruki Nishikawa  4 Kazuya Maruyama 64 Yukihiro Iwata Manager 22 Shingo Takatsu Coaches 73 Motohiro Shima (head) 72 Chikara Onodera (pitching) 98 Hirotoshi Ishii (pitching) 78 Shoitsu Omatsu (chief hitting) 74 Shigeru Sugimura (hitting) 80 Yuji Yoshioka (hitting) 86 Suguru Ino (battery) 75 Takayuki Terauchi (infield defense/baserunning) 82 Yuichi Matsumoto (outfield defense/baserunning/strategy)		Pitchers 15 Yuto Nakamura 17 Noboru Shimizu 18 Yasunobu Okugawa 19 Masanori Ishikawa 21 Kojiro Yoshimura 26 Taichi Yamano 28 Kengo Matsumoto 29 Yasuhiro Ogawa 30 Kota Shoji 35 Yuki Ishihara 41 Takuya Yasaki 49 Hikaru Yamashita 52 Juri Hara 53 Hiroki Hasegawa 56 Takumi Sakamoto 61 Tetsu Miyagawa 62 Hyuga Takeyama 66 Kosuke Sakaguchi 68 Shōta Maruyama Catchers  2 Yudai Koga 33 Sōma Uchiyama 65 Kyō Suzuki 90 Takuma Nakagawa 93 Seiya Hashimoto		Infielders 36 Ruito Nishimura 46 Kengo Ohta 50 Keigo Kitamura 54 Haruto Tanaka 59 Kōtarō Komori 67 Ryui Ito Outfielders  0 Hidetaka Namiki  9 Yasutaka Shiomi 25 Domingo Santana 31 Nikita Moiseyev 42 Ren Sawai 51 Taiki Hamada Manager 88 Takahiro Ikeyama Coaches 79 Noriyuki Shiroishi (chief) 89 Tomohito Ito (pitching/coordinator) 81 Itsuki Shoda (head pitching) 92 Tetsuya Yamamoto (pitching) 83 Atsushi Kinugawa (battery) 76 Ryuji Miyade (hitting) 87 Tomochika Tsuboi (hitting) 85 Kazuhiro Hatakeyama (hitting) 95 Katsuyuki Dobashi (infield defence/baserunning) 77 Kotaro Yamasaki (outfield defense/baserunning) 91 Yoshinori (pitching development chief) 85 Naomichi Nishiura (batting development chief)
Development Players
012 Yu Hirosawa (P) 013 Kouta Katekaru (P) 014 Kota Nishidate (P) 015 Shōhei Numata (P) 016 Yusei Nishihama (P) 017 Shōsei (P) 018 Kohei Suzuki (P) 019 Shinnosuke Shimo (P) 022 Ryunosuke Matsumoto (C) 023 Kiyoharu Sawano (IF) 026 Sota Takano (IF)
Updated July 31, 2024				→ All NPB rosters