Dodgers call up utilityman Hyeseong Kim, put Tommy Edman on injured list
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ATLANTA — The other notable international acquisition of the Dodgers’ offseason this winter is on the verge of his major league debut.
South Korean utilityman Hyeseong Kim has been called up by the Dodgers, the team announced Saturday, and joined the team in Atlanta ahead of the second game of their weekend series against the Braves.
Kim, 26, was signed to a three-year, $12.5-million contract this winter, arriving as a highly touted defensive and base-stealing weapon but with serious question marks at the plate.
In spring training, Kim struggled mightily to hit in Cactus League play, going six for 29 with one home run and 11 strikeouts. His swing needed so much work, the Dodgers elected to have him open the season in triple-A Oklahoma City, hoping it would provide a softer landing spot for him to revamp his mechanics in order to handle big league-caliber competition.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the National League pitcher of the month, allows just one hit over six shutout innings in the Dodgers’ 2-1 win over the Atlanta Braves.
“The foundations, the actual swing mechanics needed to improve,” general manager Brandon Gomes said last week.
Improvement, however, has come fast for Kim, who has batted .252 in Oklahoma City with five home runs, 19 RBIs and a .798 OPS. He has also stolen 13 bases.
Kim’s bat is still a work in progress, manager Dave Roberts cautioned. And it’s likely he will only be with the big-league team for a week, called up to replace fellow utilityman Tommy Edman after he was placed on the injured list with an ankle injury.
But, Roberts added, “We’re all excited for him … He earned the opportunity.”
“I came in with a very happy and very excited mindset,” Kim echoed through interpreter Joe Lee. “I’m really excited right now.”
Edman, who has eight home runs and 24 RBIs this season, has been dealing with right ankle inflammation since sliding awkwardly into third base on Tuesday. He isn’t expected to be out long-term, and should return to action when eligible next weekend assuming he has no setbacks.
But in the meantime, it cleared the way for Kim to get his first big-league call-up.
“I was very surprised,” Kim said. “After the game last night, our Triple-A manager [Scott Hennessey], he announced to me that I was going to go to the Show.”
A left-handed hitter who over eight seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization batted .304 but amassed only 37 home runs, Kim’s bat always figured to be the biggest question mark when the Dodgers signed him.
The Los Angeles Dodgers actually have one of the best records in baseball but no one seems to be too thrilled by it. Injuries, question marks and hitters not hitting are issues.
It was clear the team envisioned a prominent role for the 5-foot-10, 175-pound speedster, trading former second baseman Gavin Lux to Cincinnati just days after Kim was acquired. But it was also clear they’d have to be patient with his development, after Kim spent most of the spring flailing in the batter’s box in his first dose against big league competition.
“Getting him exposed to real big league pitching, there’s just no real way to simulate that,” Gomes said when asked about Kim’s development last week. “You see a lot of guys [from overseas], it takes a little bit of time to get adjusted.”
After just one month, though, the team was already seeing growth.
Kim started the season with a 13-game tear, batting .293 with three home runs, seven doubles, one triple and 13 RBIs. His OPS at that point was .963. And he was immediately emerging as “a real threat on the bases,” Gomes said.
“[It was] the overall package of what we were hoping for: speed, defense — and we knew the swing was gonna need a little bit of work,” Gomes said. “He’s completely bought in, and [his improvement is] actually happening and performing even better than we expected this early.”
Kim has not been as productive lately, batting just .211 over his last 15 games. But, Gomes said reports from the minor league staff have remained strong.
“The numbers are good. The swing is taking real steps forward,” Gomes said. “Now you’re starting to hone in on maybe some more advanced game-planning stuff, and being able to cover different parts of the zone.”
The 34-year-old third baseman had been testing his glasses in pregame batting practice and infield drills since the start of last week’s homestand.
Kim will primarily come off the bench for the Dodgers next week, Roberts said, though there could be starting opportunities for him at second base or center field. Kim can also offer depth at shortstop if needed, and give the Dodgers another dynamic with his speed off the bench.
Roberts also framed Kim’s call-up as “a good opportunity for him to see some major league pitching and to see the quality” of big-league arms.
Asked if Dodgers brass would use this week to make any major evaluations about the state of Kim’s swing, Roberts said no.
“I think this is more of a reward,” Roberts said. “Cut his teeth, and then when he does come back [to the major-league roster later], then we’ve gone through all that stuff … to kind of get him around the clubhouse, the guys, go to a couple different cities and see how life is in the big leagues.”
Kim said he wasn’t disappointed that he failed to make the Dodgers’ roster coming out spring training. He acknowledged that “there’s still a lot of space where I have to get better.”
“But compared to day one that I came here, it’s been better to what I used to be,” Kim added. “My mindset was that I had to do my work hard, give some good effort and then I’d get called up to the big leagues.”
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