Ha-seong Kim (28) was expected to be the main player in the San Diego infield, which is considered the best in the history of the club.
On the 8th (Korean time), the San Diego Union-Tribune, an American media, released an infielder’s introductory guide to spring camp, saying, “We are going to take a closer look at every corner of the roster to prepare for what is undoubtedly the most anticipated season in San Diego franchise history.”
San Diego will start preparing for the 2023 season in earnest from the 14th at the spring camp in Peoria, Arizona, USA. Pitchers and catchers will gather, and from the 22nd all players will be together. Kim Ha-seong, who will participate in the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), will also participate in San Diego Spring Camp according to the club’s policy.
This year’s San Diego infield is being evaluated for its postseason competitiveness with a solid composition. After signing an 11-year, 280 million dollar (352.2 billion won) free agency contract with Zander Bogarts (31), a shortstop who played in both offense and defense in Boston, a super-luxurious infield team was formed. At third base, Manny Machado (31), the second-ranked National League MVP with 30 home runs and 100 RBIs last year, will sit at third base, and Jake Cronenworth (29), who has two All-Star experience, will stand at first base.
Kim Ha-seong was expected to be the starting second baseman. The San Diego Union-Tribune said, “With the signing of Bogarts, Kim Ha-seong will move to second base, Cronenworth to first base, and Fernando Tatis Jr. (24) to the outfield. Even if Cronenworth is lighter in power than a traditional first baseman, San Diego will line up four athletic shortstops this way.” 메이저사이트
The reason, of course, was the excellent shortstop defense. The media said, “Most of the value of Kim Ha-seong is in defense,” and “he moved toward the second-best season in history among San Diego franchise shortstops in the absence of Tatis Jr.. Fan graph standard WAR (contribution to wins versus substitute players) also reached 3.7. It showed a rebound from 0.5 WAR in the first year of the US challenge,” he praised.
Thanks to such an outstanding San Diego infield, Matt Carpenter (38), who has hit 170 homers in his career, could not secure a starting spot and was judged to have to compete. Carpenter signed a 1+1 year, up to 12 million dollars (approximately 15 billion won) contract with San Diego this winter.
The San Diego Union-Tribune said, “San Diego general manager AJ Preller recruited Carpenter as a left-handed hitter platoon, going back and forth between first base, second base, designated hitter, and corner outfield. Carpenter can play at third base like Ha-seong Kim, but The competition for the infield bench (including) has been hit hard by an ankle injury to prospect Egui Rosario. Brandon Dixon is expected to compete for an infield bench spot this spring training,” he predicted.
Although Ha-seong Kim starts as a starting pitcher, the existence of Carpenter, who has been in his 12th year in the major leagues, cannot be neglected. Carpenter, who was also a former colleague of Kwang-Hyun Kim (35, SSG) in St. Louis, managed to bounce back last year with the New York Yankees with a . In particular, he showed a very strong performance against right pitchers with a career OPS of 0.847 and can be a substitute for Kim Ha-seong, who was weak last year with an OPS of 0.601 against right pitchers.
Therefore, in order for Kim Ha-seong to not fall into a platoon agent specializing in left-handed pitching, he needs to play a balanced role regardless of left and right.