San Diego Padres Kim Ha-seong is showing a better pace than the superstar he recruited with a super-large contract.
Ha-seong Kim, who signed a 4-year, $28 million (approximately 37.2 billion won) contract with San Diego in the 2021 season, is showing the best performance this year, his third year in the major leagues. He is having a career-high season with a .835 OPS with 15 home runs, 41 RBIs, 63 runs scored, and 27 stolen bases in 110 games with a 2.8-for-8 average (106 hits in 368 at-bats).
Kim Ha-seong continued his 15-game hitting streak by recording 1 hit, 1 run, 1 walk, and 3 steals in 3 at-bats against Seattle on the 10th (Korean time). It was the 10th-longest hitting streak in the majors this season.
Ha-seong Kim is showing off such a hot hitting feeling, but shortstop Xander Bogatz, who pushed Ha-seong Kim to second base, is having a rather disappointing first year of transfer. Bogarts, who signed an 11-year, $280 million (approximately 372.1 billion won) contract with San Diego last winter, has a batting average of 2.65 (110 hits in 415 at-bats), 11 homers, 37 RBIs, and an OPS of .727 in 109 games. It’s not a very bad performance, but considering the annual average annual salary of more than 25 million dollars (about 33.2 billion won), it is true that it is obviously disappointing.
The San Diego Union-Tribune, an American media outlet, said, “Ha-sung Kim has a batting average of 3.8 3 and an OPS of 1.057 in 25 games since July 10th. This batting average is 8 pennies and 2 li higher than Bogatz (.301), who ranked second in the team during the same period. Also, only Juan Soto (.990) and Manny Machado (.837) recorded an OPS of .737 or higher during that period.”
San Diego, which is full of star players such as Kim Ha-sung, Soto, Machado, Bogartz, Fernando Tatis Jr., Darvish Yu, Blake Snell, and Josh Hader, is not performing well to match the players’ reputation. With 55 wins and 60 losses, he is fourth in the National League West and seventh in the wild card.
Kim Ha-sung, who is having the best season, is expected to need more performances from other players to experience his second Major League postseason following last year.
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