Dodgers notes: Hyun-seok Jang, Ryan Pepiot, Fernando Valenzuela, Kenley Jansen

Newly signed Dodgers pitcher Hyun-seok Jang was officially introduced at a press conference in Seoul, South Korea on Monday, which provided a glimpse into the team’s plans for the new 19-year-old pitcher.

Jang was considered the top prospect in the upcoming Korean Baseball Organization draft, but the right-hander decided to test his talents in Major League Baseball after all. The Dodgers signed Jang to a $900,000 bonus on Aug. 8 after trading two minor league pitchers to the White Sox for international slot bonuses to clear cap space to sign the right-hander.

Jee-ho Yoo covered the press conference for Yonhap and recapped the day with a series of articles.

Dodgers director of Pacific Rim scouting John Deeble was present at Monday’s press conference and told Yonhap’s Yoo that the organization hopes to have Jang at Camelback Ranch in early February for a pitchers’ camp, a month before his 20th birthday.

From Yoo:

“He’ll start in spring training. His ability will determine where he goes. There is a chance that Rookie ball will jump. That hasn’t even been discussed yet,” Deeble said of Jang’s immediate future in the Dodgers system. “We have to get past him and evaluate him. The only thing we want to make sure is that he’s in the best shape he can be before we push him to higher levels.”

Connections

• Ryan Pepiot pitched the Dodgers minor league hit of the year Sunday in Tacoma, pitching a perfect game into the seventh inning. He finished with 11 strikeouts in 6⅔ scoreless innings for Triple-A Oklahoma City. On Monday, Pepiot was named Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week, the sixth time an OKC pitcher has won the PCL weekly honor, joining William Cuevas (April 24-30), Matt Andriese (May 9-14), Mark Washington (May 30-June 4) and Gavin Stone (July 3-9 and August 1-6).
• FanGraphs’ Jay Jaffe was at Dodger Stadium on Friday for Fernando Valenzuela’s number retirement ceremony. He wrote about the experience and also considered the feasibility of Valenzuela’s Hall of Fame case. “The case for Valenzuela rests on his status as a trailblazer and ambassador beyond his 1980-1986 breakout,” Jaffe wrote.
• Kenley Jansen spoke to David Laurila at FanGraphs about his memories as a 19-year-old catcher with the then-Low-A Great Lakes Loons in Midland, Michigan in 2007, a team that included Clayton Kershaw and Carlos Santana (who split time at catcher with Jansen and current Tulsa coach Juan Apodaca), among others. “I loved everything about this town, man,” Jansen told Laurila. “It was cold, but probably my favorite city from my time in the minor leagues.”
• On this week’s Three-Inning Save podcast, Jacob Burch and I break down the Dodgers’ hot August and see who’s on the bullpen’s “Trust tree.”
• JD Martinez, who has missed the last seven games with groin and hamstring tightness and has started just twice in the last 14 games but could return to the Dodgers’ lineup Tuesday, worked out at Loyola High School in Los Angeles. Monday’s day off, as noted by Eric Sondheimer of the Los Angeles Times:

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