Ten days after playing third base, it was still a wall. Kim Ha-seong, 28, of the San Diego Padres, has boosted his chances of becoming the first Asian major league infielder to win a Gold Glove with a masterful third base defense.
Kim held the Arizona Diamondbacks to one hit and one strikeout in four at-bats while starting at first and third base in the 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) home opener against the Padres at Petco Park in San Diego, California, USA, on Monday (June 18). His season batting average dropped from .284 to .281 and his OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) from .820 to .813.
The highlight of the day was the defense. San Diego rested their starting third baseman, Manny Machado, and sent Ha-Sung Kim to the plate in his place, where he handled three ground balls to keep the field tense until the end of the game.
The first came in the bottom of the fourth inning, when Kyle Lewis batted with the score tied at 0-0. Lewis hit a line drive toward third base, and Kim stretched out his arm to make the catch without moving his body, then threw to first base for the final out.
The second play was even more dramatic. In the top of the ninth inning with San Diego trailing 1-3, Gabriel Moreno hit a fastball down the left-field line at 99.6 miles per hour (about 160.3 kilometers per hour), but it was no match for Kim’s Gold Glove-caliber defense. Kim made a backhanded catch of Moreno’s fly ball and threw straight to first base to end the game. This allowed San Diego to make a final push in the bottom of the ninth, but they were unable to score a run and fell 1-3.
However, Kim’s top-notch defense at not only his primary position of second base, but also at third base and shortstop has put him in contention for the National League (NL) Gold Glove this season. In Defensive Runs Saved (DRS), a metric that measures how many runs a defender prevents, he is +12 at second base (649⅔ innings), +2 at third base (181⅓ innings), and +3 at shortstop (119⅓ innings), all of which are above average (0 DRS).
His DRS +12 was the best among National League second basemen and sixth among all positions. It’s no wonder that Kim is the favorite to win the Gold Glove at second base in the National League this season, according to many local media outlets. He’s also on track to qualify for the Gold Glove Utility Award, which was created last year.
The category, which recognizes the defensive contributions of utility players who play a variety of positions, has yet to define the exact criteria for innings and positions played. As a result, we can only guess at the six finalists for last year’s Utility Gold Glove, with D.J. LeMahieu (New York Yankees) being the closest to Ha-Sung Kim.
Last year, LeMahieu, like Ha-Sung Kim, was one of three finalists, playing exclusively in the infield – first base (265 innings), second base (385⅔ innings), and third base (385⅔ innings). Another close case is Tommy Edmon (St. Louis Cardinals), a Korean-American major leaguer who will wear the Korean flag at the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), who played all outfield positions last year: shortstop (622 innings), second base (614⅔ innings), third base (26 innings), center field (5 innings), and right field (3 innings). However, center field and right field were stopgap positions, while second base and shortstop were more prevalent, increasing Kim’s chances of qualifying for the Utility Gold Glove. A nomination in both categories would make him the first Asian major league infielder to win the Gold Glove.온라인카지노
At the plate, meanwhile, he has been largely unlucky. His opponent is right-hander Zach Galen, who is 12-5 with a 3.24 ERA in 25 games this season and is a favorite for the National League Cy Young Award. Kim led off the first inning with a fastball up the middle, which he lined to right field for a 96.8-mile-per-hour fastball. But left fielder Tommy Pham made a leaping catch in front of the fence for the out.
After retiring the side in the third on a fly ball to left field, Kim wasted no time in retiring the side in the fifth on a line drive to right field. Galen’s five-pitch fastball reached 98.8 miles per hour, but the glove of right fielder Corbin Carroll was waiting for it. Given the pitch’s speed, direction, and distance, it was a disappointing blast with an expected OPS of .770.