The Pirates' journey to signing Jun-Seok Shim, the No. 10 international prospect in these year's free agent class and the second-highest ranked pitcher, began when scout Fu Chan Chiang found a Youtube video.
It was 2020 and Shim was a freshman in high school. The Youtube videos showed high velocity and a lot of the traits the Pirates look for in an amateur pitcher. The trouble was they couldn't scout him in person because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We had to get creative of how we got looks, get different perspectives on where he is, what he’s been doing and trying to find the best way to capture the progression,” assistant director of player personnel Max Kwan was telling me.