Bryce Miller: Padres hold breath after Ha-Seong Kim's shoulder injury
Ha-Seong Kim, helped off the field after injuring his shoulder in a home-plate collision Sunday against the Rangers, has become one of the best leadoff hitters in baseball.
In a season full of befuddling questions for the Padres, Ha-Seong Kim has grown into a rare and trustworthy answer. The second baseman whose batting helmet and sunglasses routinely fly about as if caught in a Texas twister, quietly has become one of the most valuable players in baseball.
Doubt it?
The metric that measures winning contributions compared to an average major leaguer, called WAR, says so. Screams it, in fact. He’s No. 3 in the game — No. 3 — trailing some guy named Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuna Jr. The next three names chasing his 5.09 total: Gerrit Cole, Mookie Betts and Corey Seager.
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So it makes cruel cosmic sense in the Padres’ meat grinder of a season known as 2023 that Kim gingerly walked off the field Sunday at Petco Park against the Rangers clutching his right shoulder in pain.
These Padres seem allergic to calm seas.
“He has been the most consistent, probably the best player on the team so far,” right field-roaming teammate Fernando Tatis Jr. said of Kim after the Padres polished off a 5-3 win and a sweep. “… We definitely need him if we want to get where we want to go.”
Kim was stirring up the type of havoc that his July has delivered with a patient seven-pitch walk to lead off the game. Then he scampered to his team-leading 21st stolen base. Two innings later, he beat out an infield single.
Pest-like, in the pest-iest of ways.
Then came the third inning and a ball Xander Bogaerts lifted to center. Kim raced home from third, a sacrifice fly and RBI simply waiting for the bow. Catcher Sam Huff set up on the plate, perhaps because of the throw, perhaps not, and closed off a clear path.
Kim redirected, doing a half-barrel roll toward the outside of the plate, crumpling on his shoulder in the process.
“Right now, there’s no structural damage, no damage to the bone, which is good news,” Kim said via translator Leo Bae. “The doctor told me, ‘We’ll see how I feel in the morning and see from there.’”
The Padres can ill afford to lose Kim as they try to gobble ground in a longshot run at the playoffs. Ask manager Bob Melvin, whose stomach experienced some momentary unease of its own.
“Since he’s been in the in the leadoff spot, he’s been as good as any leadoff hitter in the game,” said Melvin, how characterized the shoulder as jammed rather than something more sinister. “So whether it’s getting on base, whether it’s getting the key hits, he’s doing it all and playing great defense. So if he was out for a significant period of time, that would not help.
“Hopefully, you know, it’s not long before he’s in there.”
Ha-Seong Kim slides safely into home plate during Sunday’s third inning. Kim was injured on the play and left the game. (K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Losing Kim, no matter how long, would be a blow that’s tough to fully quantify. He’s so well rounded at this point that the value oozes out in all kinds of ways.
This month, Kim has become the top-of-the-lineup glue the Padres desperately needed. He’s hit .385 with a brawny 1.146 OPS since mid-July with scorching totals of .478 and 1.483 totals during the seven games leading into Sunday. He’s reached base in 24 of his last 25 games.
The glove? Kim ranks second in defensive WAR behind Wander Franco of the Rays.
And there’s the hustle. There’s no wondering about whether Kim is playing hard. He is. Always. It’s lead-by-example stuff, skittering like a water bug when the ball is in play. Kim does it all without fanfare, efficiently and undeniably.
Ha-Seong Kim is known as much for his hustle as his prowess in the field. (K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Remember when Kim could not catch up to big-league fastballs? He’s grown into his offensive game in the most impressive ways by being patient.
Kim’s hard-hit percentile (9), exit velocity (15) and barrel-it-up percentage (24) are offset by a sterling chase rate that places him ahead of all but four percent of players in the game. His whiff percentile of 83 only adds to his successful at-bat mix.
As the Padres struggled with situational hitting much of the season, Kim began to master it.
“Last season, he got way more chances to prove himself, not coming off the bench, which is a way tougher job,” Tatis said. “He just needed time to adjust, see what this league is about. He’s one of the best players in the game right now.”
Kim, 27, outlined the progression.
“It’s kind of a combination of my consistent routine … and obviously getting those at-bats and adding more experience under my belt,” he said.
It’s what happened above the belt that had the Padres holding their breath Sunday.
Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune
