STYLE & SUB-STANCE

As much as the Arizona Diamondbacks marvel at Byung-Hyun Kim’s ability to fall asleep at any time anywhere, they marvel more at his eye-opening domination of opposing hitters with a repertoire of risers, sinkers and a lateral moving slider--known as a Frisbee--delivered from a submarine motion.

“He’s absolutely filthy,” veteran bullpen colleague Dan Plesac said, referring to that nasty assortment and not the fact that Kim, at 21 and in his first full major league season, tends to dirty his knuckles and knees scraping the mound as he delivers the pitch.

“I mean, you’d be hard pressed to come up with a tougher right-handed relief pitcher in either league,” Plesac said.

“As good as he is already, it’s frightening to realize how good he’s going to be.”

A teammate of Chan Ho Park’s on the Korean national team that won the 1998 Asian Games title and earned both a military deferment in their home country, Kim is in only his second year in the United States but is never at a loss for directions--to the plate.

“I call him Compass Man, because he can deliver his pitches to any point in the strike zone [and beyond],” Arizona Manager Buck Showalter said.

“He’s amazing, and there’s no problem with communication. The success of most foreign players correlates to their ability to pick up the language, but all I say to him is, ‘Hey, B.K., here’s the ball.’ He doesn’t need to know anything more.”

Several bullpen colleagues--who look after Kim as they would an adopted brother--carry a Korean/U.S. translation guide in their equipment bags, but they say that Kim has picked up Spanish easier than English, which illustrates baseball’s globalization. The Diamondbacks, hoping to make their foreign players feel more at home, hang flags of their respective countries in the clubhouse at Bank One Ballpark. The colorful array includes the flags of South Korea, Nicaragua, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic.

In any language, Kim’s stuff speaks for itself.

He leads the majors in strikeouts-to-innings-pitched ratio with 55 in 32 1/3--15.31 per nine innings. He also has a 1.67 earned-run average and nine saves--stepping into the Matt Mantei breach.

The Arizona closer, Mantei has been on the disabled list twice--with biceps tendinitis and shoulder weakness. He is active now, but Kim was called on to save Arizona’s 4-2 victory over the Dodgers on Monday night, while Mantei, looking for his groove, was used in a mop-up role as the Diamondbacks lost, 6-1, on Tuesday.

Kim’s effectiveness--and the interest he has generated with his unique style--makes him a candidate for the National League All-Star staff, where he could be teamed again with Park.

“I’d like to be All-Star,” he said at Dodger Stadium. “I hope for Chan Ho and myself.”

There have been only rare instances when a relief pitcher who was not a pure closer was selected, but Jeff Zimmerman of the Texas Rangers “set a precedent last year,” Showalter said, “and I don’t know what else B.K. is supposed to do.”

One thing, of course, is stay awake.

“Give him two minutes and he can sleep anywhere,” Showalter said.

The manager is not embellishing. Agent Tony Attanasio said that during a celebratory dinner in Seoul after announcing Kim’s signing with the Diamondbacks, the pitcher put his head down between courses and went to sleep. The Diamondbacks now operate on what they call B.K. Time when it comes to pregame stretches and meetings.

“We first have to find him,” Plesac said. “He could be sleeping behind the dryer or dirty clothes. Anywhere that’s dark and quiet.

“I really believe in his second life he’ll come back as a grizzly bear. Fall asleep on Oct. 1 and wake up in the spring.”

The Diamondbacks have slammed bats and blasted bullhorns to rouse Kim in the clubhouse, but he’s awake when it’s B.K Time in the late innings.

A black belt in taekwondo, Kim comes at hitters with a variety of weapons, including a 92-mph fastball, a changeup that helps nullify left-handed hitters, the lateral slider known as the Frisbee and an ability to rise and sink both his fastball and slider.

“He gets so much late break that both hitters and umpires tend to give up on his pitches,” General Manager Joe Garagiola Jr. said.

Pitching coach Mark Conner agreed.

“A lot of guys who throw from under there have a slow and soft breaking ball, but his are quick, with a lot of movement,” Conner said. “I don’t think he’s capable of throwing the ball straight. Everything moves.”

The delivery adds to the deception, although Dodger catcher Chad Kreuter speculated that “the more we see of him, the easier it should be to get a read.”

Kim went to the submarine delivery about eight years ago. He said he could throw harder overhand but was too wild.

He would eventually like to start, but the Diamondbacks agree with Kreuter’s view that he might become more hittable the longer he’s in a game.

As it is, they have a 21-year-old magician who might fill the closer’s role for a decade or two given the medical opinion that the submarine motion puts less stress on an arm, although Arizona scouts first saw him as a starter with the Korean national team in 1998. He registered 15 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings against the U.S. team in Tucson.

The Diamondbacks ultimately won a bidding war, signing him to a four- year, $2.25-million package.

He reported late in the spring of 1999, breezed through the double- and triple-A levels (with a 6-0 record and 72 strikeouts in 51 1/3 innings) and made his major league debut in May of ’99 at 20, the youngest player in either league. Kim made 25 appearances, striking out 31 in 27 1/3 innings and has been even better and more relaxed this second time around.

“Whenever I pitch, it’s no problem,” said Kim, who is simply doing what comes naturally in the view of countryman Park, who at 27 talks as if he and Kim are separated by generations.

“He’s a great guy and good friend,” Park said. “In our culture, a young guy and old guy can’t be friends. It’s an issue of respect. We’re able to be friends now because we are in America.

“I also learn a lot just watching him. I look at him and can remember when I was young. He doesn’t have to think too much about the game because he has the talent and he makes the game simple. I remember when I went out there and just pitched and not thought too much, just played.”

In other words, sometimes the old guy does too much thinking, falls victim to too much analysis.

One thing is certain, Park said of the young Kim, “He’s pitching so well right now that I don’t need to give him any advice.”

Unless, of course, it’s recommending No Doz.