KBO League shortstop Golden Glover’s masterclass defence is captivating Major League Baseball. Local broadcasters have been lavishing praise on Kim Ha-seong (28, San Diego Padres), highlighting his defence.스포츠토토
Kim started at first base against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Tuesday (20 June) and went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and a run scored in the Padres’ 2-0 win.
In addition to his offence, Kim’s defence was highlighted during the game. Local broadcast cameras caught Kim several times in the second inning as he worked hard to defend second base, while the broadcasters evaluated his third season in the big leagues.
“He’s having a fantastic season,” said a local commentator. Especially his defence. He has enough talent to win a Gold Glove,” and praised his defence.
Kim was a leading shortstop in the KBO before he reached the major leagues. He was drafted by Nexen with the 29th overall pick in the third round of the 2014 rookie draft out of Yatapo and made a name for himself in his second year in 2015, batting .290 with 19 home runs, and quickly grew to win the Golden Glove for shortstop for three consecutive years starting in 2018. Kim was a steady Hotazun infielder who could hit, run and defend.
After the 2020 season, Kim signed a 4+1 year, $39 million deal with San Diego via the posting system to play in the big leagues.
In fact, his prospects weren’t exactly bright at the time of his signing. San Diego had a stacked infield that included superstar Fernando Tatis Jr, Manny Machado, and 2020 Rookie of the Year voting runner-up Jake Cronenweth.
After getting a taste of the big leagues in his first year, batting .222 with eight home runs and 34 RBIs in 117 games, Kim took over as the full-time starting shortstop when Tatis Jr. broke his wrist in March last year and stepped up his game, batting .251 with 11 home runs and 59 RBIs in 150 games.
In his third year in the majors, he had to make way for the arrival of a standout shortstop in Xander Bogaerts, but instead of going to the bench, he took over as the full-time second baseman, batting .266 with 11 home runs, 33 RBIs and 18 doubles in 90 games. His defence, which has been recognised since his rookie season, has also taken a step forward.
Kim’s WAR (Wins Above Replacement) is third in the league, behind only Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Angels) and Ronald Acuna Jr. (Atlanta Braves), who have combined to dominate the majors, and his dWAR (Defensive WAR) of 2.2 is first overall.
There’s a reason why the local American broadcasters were drooling over him.