San Diego has been one of the league’s most anticipated teams this season, and one of its biggest disappointments. After spending big and showing ambition to challenge for a World Series title, the Padres are less than five per cent of the way through the first two months of the season.
San Diego went 7-10 against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on the 29th. The Dodgers have been getting into a rhythm, only to have it break down. Once again, ace Darvish Yu, who started the game, was tagged for seven runs in 2⅔ innings. Mistakes continued to be made at the plate and on the bases. San Diego is 24-29 (.453) and in fourth place in the National League West. They are 7.5 games behind the division-leading Dodgers.메이저놀이터
But Kim has been on a roll. It’s not spectacular. But he’s been consistent. Against the Yankees on the 29th, he batted third in the starting six, going 1-for-2 with a double, two walks, three runs scored, and a stolen base. He is no longer valued as a “utility player” who can play multiple positions.
Starting for the Yankees was the league’s highest-paid pitcher ($324 million over nine years) and their ace, Gerrit Cole, 33. He has the name recognition and skills to intimidate San Diego hitters, but Kim seemed to have none of that. He calmly picked his pitches and, in a threatening situation, came through with a vengeance, drawing applause from his teammates.
In his first at-bat of the second inning, he chose not to be dragged out by an outside pitch from Kohl. With a bit of luck, a fastball in the zone was ruled a ball, and Kim worked a favourable count to 3B. He then picked off a five-pitch fastball on the high side and walked. Cole made no secret of his frustration with the call, and Ha-Sung Kim made it worse with a walk.
As a fast runner, Cole and Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka were on edge. Cole is not a pitcher who usually throws a lot of strikes, but he did throw one. Higashioka’s pitches were also outside. He was determined to catch Kim at second base if he ran. However, despite his determination, Kim ran and took second base. “It was practically a pitch out,” said a local San Diego broadcaster, but there was no stopping Kim’s feet.
In his second at-bat, he was threatened. He was still in the thick of things when an eight-pitch fastball (155 km/h) from 2B-2S was aimed at his head. It was in-country and appeared to be set up for an outside pitch if he wasn’t fooled, but the ball was too far away. Kim was so surprised that he fell over. His helmet came off. It was an intimidating pitch for a batter, even if he didn’t mean to.
He eventually struck out in that at-bat, as the Yankees battery intended, but in his third at-bat of the seventh inning, trailing 5-8, he got revenge on the call. In the bottom of the seventh, O’Dowd homered to put San Diego up by two runs, and Kim was stuck at 2S, but he persevered. He took a three-pitch pitch, fouled off a four-pitch pitch, and took a five-pitch pitch. He took all the outside pitches. It wasn’t going to be a pitcher’s nightmare, and in the sixth pitch, a low curveball fell low and Kim took a technical swing at it for a hit.
That was the end of the call, and Kim showed off his ‘ace plate maker’ side. Kim made three more plate appearances in the ninth inning, all of which resulted in runs scored, helping the team extend its lead.
Kim doesn’t normally have a high batting average. Today, for the first time in May, he hit into the 2-for-4 range, but he’s been able to maintain his slugging percentage by consistently drawing walks. His OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) in May is 0.817. That’s better than the OPS of Fernando Tatis Jr. (.766), who hit seven home runs in May alone. This is because Tatis Jr. has had issues with his on-base percentage (.291), while Kim’s May OPS (.366) has been relatively stable. More and more, Kim’s value is shining through on offence.