Kim Hye-seong of the Los Angeles Dodgers prepares to bat during a spring training baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, in Phoenix, Ariz., U.S., Feb. 22. AP-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 signed a three-year deal worth $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 Korea 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.
Also in Arizona on Wednesday, Lee Jung-hoo of the San Francisco Giants went 0-for-2 and scored a run from the leadoff spot against the Chicago Cubs at Scottsdale Stadium in Scottsdale. Lee was also hit by a pitch.
The Korean center fielder missed a big chunk of his rookie campaign last year after suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in May. The Giants have designs on Lee as their No. 3 hitter in 2025 after he spent the majority of his abbreviated 2024 season at the top of the lineup.
Against the Cubs, Lee was hit by a pitch from starter Shota Imanaga to lead off the bottom of the third and advanced to third on a single by Willy Adames. Lee then came home on a wild pitch by Imanaga.
The teams ended in a 4-4 tie. (Yonhap)