Hyeseong Kim is Living Out Lifelong Dream With Dodgers — And Absolutely Thriving
Hyeseong Kim signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the offseason on a three-year, $12.5 million deal. The infielder joined the defending champions with quite the impressive resume, which included four Gold Glove Awards from Korea Baseball Organization.
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Once Gavin Lux was traded to the Cincinnati Reds, it appeared Kim would take over as the starting second baseman given his elite defense. However, the 26-year-old struggled at the plate in spring training, and the Dodgers felt it was best for Kim to start the season in the minors.
After a complete revamp of his swing, Kim was called up to the big leagues when Tommy Edman landed on the injured list.
Kim is hitting .429 with one home run, five runs batted in and an OPS of 1.038 across 30 plate appearances. He made his first start at Dodger Stadium this week against the Athletics.
“I always dreamed to play in this stadium,” Kim said after his first Dodger Stadium start in which he homereed. “I’m really happy. I’m really thrilled right now.”
Kim’s first MLB home run of his career came in Wednesday’s 9-3 win over the Athletics, a huge milestone for the Dodgers rookie given the setback he faced in camp.
“I don’t really try to think about hitting with power,” Kim said. “I think the only thing that I really care about is to hit a hard hit. And if a hit comes out, I’m happy. And if not, I gotta try to work hard on it.”
The Dodgers will have some hard decisions to make with Edman and Teoscar Hernandez returning soon
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Photo Credit: Jason Parkhurst-Imagn Images
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