Dodgers Kim Hye-seong goes hitless in spring training game
SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Yonhap) — Los Angeles Dodgers rookie Kim Hye-seong is now batting below .100 in his first spring training in the majors after another hitless day at the plate.
Kim went 0-for-3 with a strikeout against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Fields of Phoenix in Phoenix on Wednesday (local time) after getting the start at second base and batting sixth. The Dodgers won 9-3.
In five spring training games in Arizona, Kim is 1-for-12 (.083) with two walks and five strikeouts. The lone hit was an infield single, and Kim has hit only one ball harder than 95 mph, the threshold for “hard-hit” contact in Major League Baseball’s Statcast analytics system.
SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Yonhap) — Los Angeles Dodgers rookie Kim Hye-seong is now batting below .100 in his first spring training in the majors after another hitless day at the plate.
Kim went 0-for-3 with a strikeout against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Fields of Phoenix in Phoenix on Wednesday (local time) after getting the start at second base and batting sixth. The Dodgers won 9-3.
In five spring training games in Arizona, Kim is 1-for-12 (.083) with two walks and five strikeouts. The lone hit was an infield single, and Kim has hit only one ball harder than 95 mph, the threshold for “hard-hit” contact in Major League Baseball’s Statcast analytics system.
Kim Hye-seong of the Los Angeles Dodgers takes a swing against the Milwaukee Brewers during a Major League Baseball spring training game at American Family Fields of Phoenix in Phoenix on Feb. 26, 2025, in this Imagn Images photo via Reuters. (Yonhap)
Kim Hye-seong of the Los Angeles Dodgers takes a swing against the Milwaukee Brewers during a Major League Baseball spring training game at American Family Fields of Phoenix in Phoenix on Feb. 26, 2025, in this Imagn Images photo via Reuters. (Yonhap)
Kim signed a three-year deal worth US$12.5 million with the Dodgers in January, with an option for two more years that would give him a chance to make up to $22 million total.
The Dodgers soon traded away their starting second baseman from 2024, Gavin Lux, to seemingly clear the path for Kim, who has mostly been a second baseman during eight years in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO).
Kim had a lifetime .304 batting average in the KBO and led all players with 211 steals in the 2018-2024 period. He also won the first two editions of the KBO Fielding Award at second base in 2023 and 2024.
However, Kim has never been a power hitter, evidenced by his 37 home runs in 953 KBO games. The Dodgers have praised Kim’s bat-to-ball skills, but the South Korean player has looked overmatched so far in spring training, even against pitchers with little or no major league experience.
Kim is also undergoing a swing change with the help of the Dodgers staff, and manager Dave Roberts has been effusive about Kim’s buy-in. On the field, Kim has been moved around the diamond and has even made an appearance at center field, a position he never played in the KBO.
Roberts told reporters earlier in the week that Kim was “in a competition to earn a job with us.”
“So I would say that’s still all in play, and we don’t need to make a decision right now,” he added.
