Ha-Seong Kim is the silver lining
With an opportunity to start the season as the regular starting SS, Ha-Seong Kim will get a chance to show off any improvements he's made to his game since last year.
I believe in Ha-Seong Kim. I believe that he’s a significantly better player than the one we saw in his first MLB season, and even that player was valuable.
My argument for believing in “King” Ha-Seong is two-fold…
He passes the eye test. Even when he struggled to catch up to MLB fastballs, he never looked overmatched and never seemed to get down on himself.
He’s been here before.
Allow me to explain what I mean by #2.
.188/.298/.396
.202/.270/.352
Don’t those two slashlines look similar? One of them in Kim’s first year in the KBO, the other is his first year in MLB. Here’s what he did in his second season in the KBO:
.290/.362/.489
If you’re wondering, Kim would be an MLB all-star if he posted those numbers for the Padres. And, with his stellar defense, he would be one of the most valuable (and underpaid) players in the league. After that first season, he put up these numbers or better every year in the KBO.
I don’t think he’ll match those numbers, at least not this season, but I do believe that the pattern shows him able to adjust and learn.
Getting past 2021
You’ll recall that the San Diego Padres were not the only team bidding for Kim’s services, but they were the only ones that promised he could play at the MLB level and not get sent down to the minors.
They agreed to that to get a player that might end up being incredibly useful and valuable, but it came with a cost. Instead of Kim learning the differences in American pitching vs. what he saw in the KBO in the minor leagues, where the games ostensibly don’t matter, he had to learn at the MLB level.
And he did a lot of “young player” things. He was a lot better vs LHP than RHP. He was better at home than on the road, even though Petco Park is not friendly to hitters. And offensive consistency was not his calling card.
His OPS at home was .719 (vs. .530 on the road), which is something to build on. It was even better when you silo out his home ABs vs. LHP (.831). And his opportunities felt rare, or at least sporadic.
Kim got over 100 fewer PAs than Jurickson Profar, who was a less valuable player. He also got over 200 PAs in the first half and less than 100 PAs in the second half, showing that (presumably) Jayce Tingler gave up on him as anything more than the last guy on the bench.
Had the Padres not given their word, I imagine Ha-Seong Kim would’ve been riding the bus around the Texas League last year.
The Silver Lining
Kim was set to start this season in a similar position to last year. He would be the main backup infielder while Profar would likely be the team’s starting LF.
When news came out that Fernando Tatis Jr. had fractured his wrist, the only possible silver lining (if you were looking for one) was that Kim was going to get a real chance for consistent ABs. If history was any indication, they would also be coming at exactly the right time.
Let’s do something that I’m loathe to do, because of a lack of information: Let’s look at some spring training stats.
2021: .167/.314/.167
2022: .333/.429/.389
If you were searching for signs that Kim is more comfortable at the plate a year after moving to America, there’s one. I won’t pretend that a .818 OPS in spring training is a sign that he’ll post an 800+ OPS in the regular season, but it is a sign of progress.
I, for one, am eager to see what it turns into. If, several months from now, the Padres are sitting on a glut of talented short stops in Kim, C.J. Abrams and a healthy Fernando Tatis Jr., that would be a blessing and not a curse.