Jae Weong Seo #40

Jae and his wife, Joo Hyun have a daughter, Ellen (1)...Compiled an 8-3 record as a sophomore at Inha University in Inchon, Korea...led his team to his country's collegiate championship...posted a 4-1 record as a freshman.

2007

Pronouned Jay So ... Twenty-nine year old native of Kwanju, South Korea opened the season as the Rays no. 2 starter and went 3-4 with an 8.13 ERA in 11 games, 10 starts, before being designated for assignment on June 2 ... outrighted to Durham on June 11 ... At the time he was designated, his ERA was the highest of all major league pitchers with at least 50 innings pitched ... as was his .372 opponent's batting average ... he also allowed the 2nd most hits in the AL (84) ands the 2nd most runs ... Allowed 104 base runners in his 52.0 innings ... Moved out of the rotation following his start on May 24 vs. the Mariners in which he allowed 7 runs (6 earned) on a career-high 13 hits in 5.0 innings ... Made one more appearance out of the bullpen, May 29 vs. Detroit (2.0-IP, 5-H, 2-R, HR-Pudge Rodriguez) ... Has just 4 wins in 26 starts as a Ray ... Allowed 42 home runs starting in 2006 until he was designated this season, 4th most in the majors over that span ... His 6-5 win April 21 over the Indians at home snapped a 13-game winless streak dating back to his first victory as a Ray (July 19, 2006 at NYY) ... Appeared in 17 games (16 starts) for Durham over the remainder of the season, posting a 9-4 record with a 3.69 ERA ... walked just 14 while striking out 64 in 97.2 innings ... earned a trio of pitcher-of-the-week honors ... Was acquired by the Rays from the Dodgers on June 27, 2006 along with C Dioner Navarro and a player to be named later (OF Justin Ruggiano) for C Toby Hall, LHP Mark Hendrickson and cash ... became the first Korean-born Devil Ray, the 12th in major league history (7th pitcher) ... He and Jae Kuk Ryu became the 3rd set of Korean teammates in the major leagues ... Seo and LHP Dae-Sung Koo with the Mets in 2005 and RHP Byung-Hyun Kim and RHP Sun Woo Kim pitched together for Colorado in 2005 and 2006.

2006

Acquired by the Rays from the Dodgers on June 27 along with C Dioner Navarro and a player to be named later (OF Justin Ruggiano) for C Toby Hall, LHP Mark Hendrickson and cash...became the first Korean-born Devil Ray...was the 12th in major league history...Made 16 starts for the Rays and was 1-8...Had the lowest run support among all AL starters with at least 15 starts...The Rays scored 2.86 runs per 9 innings behind him...Rays were shut out 3 times when he was on the mound and scored only one run in 3 of his other starts...Eight times he pitched 6 or more innings and allowed 2 earned runs or less and didn't win any of those games....Had a stretch of 8 starts, Aug 3-Sep 20 in which he pitched to a 2.68 ERA (IP-47, ER-14) and was 0-1 with 7 no decisions...Made his Rays debut June 28 at Florida throwing 2.0 scoreless innings of relief...Moved into the Rays rotation on July 2 and lost his first 5 starts...Ironically, his only win as a Ray was a 19-6 routing at Yankee Stadium over Randy Johnson on July 29...Rays tied their franchise record for most runs in a game...Seo's line: IP-5.2, H-9, R-5, ER-5, BB-2, SO-1, HR-2...The Rays scored only 32 runs in his 15 other starts combined (2.13 runs/start)...The win in New York snapped a career-high 7-game losing streak for Seo dating back to May 22...He and Tim Corcoran were the only Rays starters to win a road game after July 1...Was his first ever career win in the month of July, entered 0-11, including 0-5 in 2006...Was winless in his last 10 starts (0-3). » Owns just 3 wins in 18 career starts against American League opponents...Had the AL's 5th best ERA in August (min 20 IP) with a 1.96 mark (IP-23, ER-5), but did not record a decision in 4 starts while the Rays scored 10 runs in the 4 games...Exited the Aug 20 game against Cleveland after 2.1 IP with a left groin strain...had given up 7 hits and 2 runs on back-to-back home runs by Travis Hafner and Ryan Garko...landed on the DL the next day through Sept 4...Was his second start cut short by groin tightness...also, exited after 6.2 IP Aug. 3 against Detroit with tightness in his left groin...Allowed a .333 opponents batting average, 2nd highest among American Leaguers with 15 or more starts...Only former Ray Jason Johnson (Cle-Bos) was higher at .339...Began the season as the Dodgers 5th starter, but after 10 starts was 2-3 with a 5.26 ERA and was moved to the bullpen...On May 23, faced fellow Korean - and former high school teammate - Byung-Hyun Kim in the first-ever matchup up of Korean-born pitchers in baseball history...Seo picked up the 6-1 victory over the Rockies...Appeared in a career-high 36 games with the Rays and Dodgers...was 3-11 in 26 starts with a 5.16 ERA (IP-137.2, ER-86)...Opponents batted .319 off him as a starter with both teams, 4th highest among major league starters...With both teams he had 12 starts in which he pitched 6 or more innings and allowed 2 ER or less and was victorious in only two of them...Signed with the Rays on Oct. 11 to a one-year contract, avoiding arbitration.

2005

In 14 appearances, all starts, he was 8-2 with a 2.59 ERA (26 ER/90.1 IP) to go along with 59 strikeouts against just 16 walks ... Ten of his 14 starts were quality starts and the Mets were 11-3 in his starts ... Won a career-best six consecutive decisions in seven starts from May 4-Sept. 4...during that span, posted a 1.60 ERA (8 ER/49.l IP) and averaged just over 7.0 innings per start ... During the day, was 4-0 with a 1.89 ERA (7 ER/ 37.1 IP) in five starts ... Allowed one run or less in half his starts and three runs or less in 11 of the 14 ... Pitched a career-high 20.1 scoreless innings over three starts from May 4-Aug. 13 ... Matched a career-best eight strikeouts in his May 4 one-hitter against the Phillies ... Threw his first career complete game, a 3-2 loss at St. Louis Sept. 9 ... Went 7-4 with a 4.29 ERA over 19 starts with the Triple-A Norfolk Tides.

2004

Surrendered three earned runs or less in 13 of his last 20 starts...Recalled from Norfolk (AAA) of the International League for a second time on August 27th...Also was with the Mets from April 9th-July 30th...The Mets were 9-5 in his 14 starts from April 29th-July 21st...Made three relief appearances...In 5.2 innings out of the bullpen he allowed one earned run (1.59 ERA)...Suffered the loss in his first start of the season to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-1, on April 18th at Shea...Lasted 4.1 innings, allowing 10 hits, seven runs, earned, with two walks and two strikeouts...It was his first start since September 27, 2003 at Florida...Earned his first victory of the season in a 6-1 win over the Dodgers on April 29th...Tossed 6.1 innings, permitting six hits, one run, earned, with two walks and three strikeouts...Left the game after 4.1 innings with a split nail on his right index finger on May 5th vs. the Giants...Earned his second victory of the season by defeating the Diamondbacks, 7-3, at Arizona on May 13th...He was taken out of the game after 5.0 innings due to a blister on his right index finger...Over two consecutive starts from May 29th-June 3rd he compiled a 2.25 ERA (three earned runs in 12.0 innings)...Had his start cut short by a rain delay after 4.0 innings against the Cleveland Indians on June 17th...He struck out a season-high six batters in the rain-shortened start...Worked a season-high 7.0 innings in a 5-1 loss vs. Philadelphia on July 21st...Earned the victory in relief on September 25th vs. Chicago with a scoreless frame as the Mets won, 4-3, in 11 innings...It was his first relief outing since April 14th...Hurled a season-high 2.2 innings of relief on April 14th at Atlanta...Collected a career-high two hits on July 21st vs. Atlanta...Drove in his first career RBI when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded by Cardinals pitcher Jason Marquis on May 20th...Went 0-2 with a 2.82 ERA in four starts for the Tides...In 22.1 innings, he yielded 22 hits, seven runs, earned, with eight walks and 20 strikeouts.

2003

Became the first Korean-born pitcher to start for the Mets ... Was also the first Mets rookie to make 30 or more starts since Ron Darling had 33 starts and Dwight Gooden made 31 in 1984 ... Logged a 3.25 ERA (35 earned runs/97.0 innings) in games played on the road, which was ninth lowest in the National League ... Walked 2.2 batters per nine innings, which ranked second among National League rookies ... Finished the year first in innings pitched (188.1) among National League rookies, and tied for first in games started with 31 ... Had 110 strikeouts, which was the third most by a National League rookie ... Made his first Major League start on April 6 vs. Montreal and did not factor into the decision ... Picked up his first Major League win in a 7-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 17 at PNC Park in which he threw 7.0 scoreless innings allowing five hits, no walks and struck out two ... Walked Dave Dellucci in the first inning on April 27 vs. Arizona, his first walk after facing 103 batters in the Major Leagues, the longest such streak to begin a Major League career by any pitcher who has debuted since the end of World War II (1945) ... Won four consecutive starts from May 31-June 17, the first Met rookie to win four consecutive starts since Jason Isringhausen won seven consecutive starts in 1995 ... Pitched a career-high 8.0 innings, to secure a 4-2 victory over the Braves on May 31st at Shea Stadium.

2002

Began the year with Triple-A Norfolk of the International League ... Was recalled by the Mets on July 21 and made his Major League debut that night, hurling a perfect inning with one strikeout (Brady Clark) at Cincinnati ... Was optioned back to Norfolk on July 22.

2001

Pitched a full season with three different teams after having missed the entire 2000 season following reconstructive surgery on his right elbow ... Made six appearances (five starts) at Single-A St. Lucie of the Florida State League before he was promoted to Double-A Binghamton of the Eastern League on May 9 ... Also started for the World Team at Major League Baseball's Annual Futures Game at SAFECO Field in Seattle on July 9 pitching one scoreless inning with one walk and one strikeout ... Had been selected for the Eastern League's All-Star Team but could not participate because he was in the Futures Game ... Joined Triple-A Norfolk of the International League on July 18.

2000

Missed the entire season recuperating from reconstructive surgery performed on his right elbow on May 27, 1999.

1999

Dr. Frank Jobe performed reconstructive surgery to repair the medial collateral ligament in his right elbow on May 27.

1998

Overcame an early season elbow injury to lead St. Lucie (A) Mets to the Florida State League Championship ... Had a superb performance in the post-season ... In two games, he was 2-0 with an 0.00 ERA and held opponents to an .021 batting average.