The Los Angeles Dodgers have recalled infielder Hyeseong Kim from Triple-A Oklahoma City and placed fellow infielder Tommy Edman on the injured list on account of ankle inflammation. Edman, who had missed consecutive games, had his IL stint backdated to Apr. 30. (Teams are allowed to retroactively apply an IL stay up to three days provided the player has not appeared in a game since.) Kim was not in Saturday night’s lineu against the Atlanta Braves; rather, veteran Chris Taylor received the nod at the keystone and was slotted in at the bottom of the order.
When Kim enters a game, he’ll be making his big-league debut. That milestone will occur roughly four months after he joined the Dodgers on a multi-year pact worth $12.5 million guaranteed. Kim had previously spent his professional career playing in the Korea Baseball Organization league.
Kim, 26, had hit .257/.323/.478 with five home runs and 13 stolen bases (on 13 tries) over the course of 27 Triple-A games. That slugging percentage is notable, particularly because power was identified as a weakness in his game. To wit, Kim homered just 11 times last season, clearing double-digits for the first time en route to establishing a new personal career-high. Yet Kim’s ball-tracking data suggests he’s not suddenly possessing big-time strength. His average exit velocity at Triple-A was just 87.3 mph, and he cleared the 95 mph threshold on just 31.3% of his batted balls. Additionally, he maxed out at 106.3 mph. For reference, that figure would rank 237th out of 260 qualifying big-league hitters.
Concerningly, Kim had struck out in 24.4% of his plate appearances. He had punched out in around 11% of his trips to the plate the last two years in South Korea. Of course, Kim is still getting acclimated to a new country and a new league, so it’s understandable if he’s experiencing some growing pains. Besides, he’s an intriguing player thanks to his speed and defensive versatility. He had already recorded seven or more starts at second base, shortstop, and center field.
The Dodgers entered Saturday with a 22-10 record on the season, putting them in first place of the National League West.
