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Blue Jays: Looking back at Seung-hwan Oh’s career and accolades
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Photo credit: © John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Jan 11, 2026, 14:00 ESTUpdated: Jan 11, 2026, 05:22 EST
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A former Toronto Blue Jay hung up the cleats following the 2025 season.
Back in October, Seung-hwan Oh announced his retirement, and it seems fitting to do a retrospective article on his career. Most of those seasons were spent overseas, but Oh had a foray into Major League Baseball, spending the 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 seasons in North America.
After nine seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization, and two in Japan, Oh came stateside, joining the St. Louis Cardinals in 2016. That season, he posted a 1.92 ERA and 2.13 FIP in 79.2 innings pitched, with a 32.9 K% and 5.8 BB%. Despite being 33 years old at the time, Oh finished sixth in National League rookie of the year voting.
The right-handed pitcher didn’t find the same success in 2017 with the Cardinals, as his ERA elevated to 4.10 and his FIP to 4.44. Oh’s K% also dropped to 20.5%, while his BB% remained around the same.
During the 2017/18 off-season, Oh signed a one-year deal with the Blue Jays, along with a vesting option. Oh returned to the form he had in his rookie campaign, posting a 2.68 ERA and 3.03 FIP in 47 innings pitched, with a 29.1 K% and 5.3 BB%. Before the 2018 trade deadline, the rebuilding Blue Jays sent Oh to the playoff bound Colorado Rockies for Chad Spanberger, Forrest Wall, and a player to be named later.
That player to be named later turned out to be Bryan Baker, who didn’t get much of an opportunity with the Blue Jays, but found success with the Baltimore Orioles. Anyway,  Oh had a 2.53 ERA and 3.86 FIP in 21.1 innings pitched with the Rockies to end the 2018 season. He hit his vesting option, meaning he pitched with the Rockies in 2019, authoring a 9.33 ERA and 6.70 FIP in 18.1 innings pitched. This was his final action in North America.
Although his MLB career was short, Oh had a lengthy career in Korea. On top of the aforementioned nine seasons in Korea and two in Japan, Oh returned to Korea following his departure from the big leagues. Returning to the Samsung Lions in 2020, Oh pitched an additional six seasons, retiring as the relief pitcher with the most saves in KBO history. Oh finished hist career with the most saves in KBO history,  507 to be exact.
Additionally Oh won a silver medal at the 2009 World Baseball Classic, and a bronze at the 2006 WBC. The reliever also won the gold medal with Korea during the 2008 Olympics.
His time with the Blue Jays may have been brief, but what a career it was.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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