Kyle Hart took the mound for the NC Dinos under the bright lights of Korean baseball, competing among former MLB players searching for a way back to the big leagues.
For Hart it wasn't just a second chance — it was the start of his resurgence.
"Playing in Korea was one of the best things that ever happened to me. It gave me a fresh start, a new perspective on the game," Hart said in a phone interview with the Indiana Daily Student. "Over there, it wasn’t about proving people wrong, it was about proving to myself that I could still be the pitcher I always believed I was."
Following his bounce-back year with the NC Dinos in 2024, Hart earned a spot in the San Diego Padres' starting rotation. As the team kicks off the season, Hart is set to make his first start in five years Monday against the Cleveland Guardians.
The tall lefty, standing at 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds, had an outstanding 2024 season with the NC Dinos. Hart earned the Choi Dong-Won Award, the Korean equivalent of the Cy Young Award, after leading the league with 182 strikeouts in 157 innings. He posted a 13-3 record and a 2.69 ERA, becoming the league's top starter.
There wasn't a sudden change when Hart went to Korea; rather, he attributed his success overseas to his relentless work ethic and desire to win.
Back in 2015, during his standout senior season as Indiana’s leader on the mound, Hart anchored the team’s starting rotation. Despite facing Big Ten competition, he topped the conference with 10 wins while maintaining an impressive 3.29 ERA over 98 1/3 innings.
"Every time I went on the field, I just wanted to win,” Hart said. “I wanted it so bad for my teammates. That was just it. It was the purest, simplest form of baseball that I ever played because we just wanted to win."
The year prior to his senior year, Hart faced a grueling setback. He underwent Tommy John surgery, forcing him to miss the remainder of his junior year campaign and forcing his hand to forgo the MLB draft and return to Indiana for another season.
Despite injury setbacks, Hart graduated as one of Indiana’s most accomplished pitchers, ranking second in program history with 31 career wins. A projectable left-hander with dominant pitches, he remained a sought-after prospect and was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 19th round of the 2016 MLB Draft.
Hart spent three years in the minor leagues, making 59 starts. His final season came in 2019, when he pitched across Double-A and Triple-A, recording a 12-13 record with a 3.52 ERA over 27 appearances and 156 innings pitched.
His performance that year was convincing enough to earn the then-27-year-old starter a shot in the big leagues the following season. He made his debut in the infamous COVID-19-shortened year.
His debut, like the 2020 season, was short lived.
Despite a disappointing MLB debut that lasted only four games, where he surrendered 19 earned runs over 11 innings, Hart didn't give up. His stint with the Red Sox ended quickly, but he returned to the minor leagues, continuing to improve with the goal of earning another shot at the MLB.
That dedication, he said, helped him become the pitcher the Padres are now willing to give a second chance.
"2020 was a bad year for everyone,” Hart said. “I took some learning points from that year and moved on."
After another challenging three-year stint with the Red Sox, Seattle Mariners, and Philadelphia Phillies organizations, and running out of options, Hart decided to give the KBO a try.
“I literally had no other job offers,” Hart said, “so the decision to play in Korea was super easy.”
Hart’s ability to make adjustments throughout his career has been crucial to keeping his career alive in the face of adversity. In Korea, the adjustments he made to his pitching arsenal helped reignite his career, making his return to the MLB one of the more unique comeback stories.
One of Hart’s biggest adjustments, his arm angle, simply came from the grind he and many other professional baseball players must become accustomed to.
“My arm slot naturally fell into a slightly lower position, which I feel allows me to be a little more athletic,” Hart said. “I didn't necessarily do it on purpose; it just happened, and it felt right. Some of my pitches improved, so I just stuck with it.”
During his time with Boston, Hart’s arm angle was a relatively-high 53 degrees, which Hart said made him feel like he was “fighting himself” in his delivery. The move to a lower arm angle opened Hart's ability to be loose and athletic with his mechanics, something Hart said made him more confident on the mound.
Hart’s spring training numbers don’t stand out — he posted a 9.39 ERA across two starts and 7 2/3 innings — but he still managed to impress the man who matters most, Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla.
With Padres starting pitcher Yu Darvish opening the 2025 season on the injured list, Hart has earned a spot in the starting rotation to begin the year with the club.
He said his journey to the MLB has been shaped by perseverance, adaptability and an unwavering drive to succeed. Now, as he embarks on this new chapter, he’s not just looking to make an impact, he’s focused on pushing his game to new heights.
Hart is ready to prove that his hard work and reinvention were just the beginning of something even greater in the MLB.
In his return to MLB on Monday, Hart secured the win over the Guardians. He struck out Steven Kwan for his first strikeout of the season. Hart pitched five innings, allowing two runs on five hits, with four strikeouts and one walk.
In a promising debut, Hart worked with his sweeper and changeup, throwing the pair 51% of the time and generating all four of his strikeouts with them. He worked his fastball above the bats of most hitters at the top of the zone, topping out at 93.6 mph.
Hart looks to continue solidifying his role in the starting rotation for what has been a very strong for the 5-0 San Diego Padres.
