Hyeseong Kim has provided a jolt to the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup since being recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City earlier this month.
The 26-year-old entered Tuesday hitting .400 and recently became the first Dodgers rookie since Corey Seager (2015) to reach base safely in nine consecutive plate appearances.
Kim benefited with consistent playing time at second base while Tommy Edman was on the 10-day injured list. But with the former Gold Glove Award winner returning over the weekend, in addition to Teoscar Hernández now being back, Kim’s outlook has changed even if he did outlast Chris Taylor in a roster battle.
Despite being moved back into a bench role, Kim should still make starts when Edman, Andy Pages, Teoscar Hernández and potentially Michael Conforto are out of the Dodgers lineup.
“I think Andy is an everyday player, and I think that I’ve shown that. He’s earned it. There will be a sporadic off day,” manager Dave Roberts explained.
“I think with Kim, getting Tommy some days (of rest) once in a while. I think gettin Teo a day here or there to get his legs back under him, I think we’ll give Michael a day here in the next two. So I think that will be a way to keep Kim involved.
“I would probably say three and a half times a week getting him in there to start, and also he’s going to come into games (off the bench) too.”
Kim started in center field for the Dodgers’ series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday, with Pages getting the night off.
Kim’s path to playing time could get more difficult when Edman and Hernández are fully built back up, but Roberts isn’t worried about that.
“That’s something that as we’ve learned over the years and certainly this year, it’ll work itself out,” Roberts said of a potential Dodgers roster crunch.”I think in the next week we’re good with cycling him in and kind of see where we go in seven to 10 days.”
Hyeseong Kim misplay in center field
Kim made just his fourth big league appearance in center field on Monday and lost a fly ball in the first inning that led to an RBI double for Eugenio Suárez.
“He just lost it,” Roberts said. “I don’t know if it was twilight or what. He just lost it. That’s just something unfortunate that happened.”
Roberts would have liked for Kim to have better communication with Hernández on the fly ball but understands he is still new to the position.
“I think so,” Roberts began. “But I think that’s something where you haven’t played a whole bunch of center field, so at that point in time he’s just trying to find the baseball and not really letting the guys to the side know he is having trouble.
“That’s more experience and kind of an outlier.”
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