3:00pm: The Dodgers have now made it official. Kim has been recalled with Edman placed on the 10-day IL, retroactive to April 30, due to right ankle inflammation.
11:25am: The Dodgers are recalling infielder Hyeseong Kim, reports Dodgers Daily. Kim will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. He is already on the 40-man roster but a corresponding move will be needed to get him onto the active roster.
Kim, 26, was a notable free agent this winter. He had hit .304/.364/.403 over eight season in the KBO while bouncing around to multiple positions, mostly the middle infield. There wasn’t a ton of power there, but he seemed like an intriguing contact-based utility guy.
The Dodgers somewhat surprisingly won the bidding with a three-year, $12.5MM deal. At the time of the signing, they already had a middle infield group consisting of Mookie Betts, Gavin Lux, Tommy Edman and Miguel Rojas, which made it a somewhat curious fit. However, Lux was quickly traded to the Reds, which widened Kim’s path to playing time.
But Kim was optioned to the minors on March 11th, a few days before the Dodgers were travelling to Japan for the Tokyo Series. The middle infield playing time has largely gone to Betts and Edman, with Rojas and Enrique Hernández chipping in occasionally.
Kim has been getting regular playing time at Triple-A, having stepped to the plate 131 times over 28 games. His 7.6% walk rate and 24.4% strikeout rate are both a bit worse than par but he has five home runs, leading to a .252/.328/.470 line and 105 wRC+. He has also stolen 13 bases without getting caught while splitting his time between second base, shortstop and center field.
His promotion might not be entirely about his own Triple-A performance. Edman has missed the club’s last two games due to right ankle discomfort. He has not yet been placed on the injured list but perhaps Kim’s promotion indicates that the Dodgers will make that move today. Edman hasn’t played since Tuesday, so an IL stint could be backdated by three days, the maximum allowed. That means he could return in a week if he heals up in that time.
If that’s the case, the Dodgers would have Kim, Rojas and Hernandez as options to cover the second base spot. It’s unclear how the playing time would be distributed in that scenario but Kim should have a chance to make his major league debut at some point this week.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
I expect a 20/20 season.
I’m thinking your expectations are way too high. He’s going to be overwhelmed by MLB pitching. I’d expect he’ll be more of a late inning defensive replacement and a fill in starter. Hope I’m wrong, but I guess we’ll see.
I’m still guessing that he could get overwhelmed with MLB pitching but they’re going to give him the full on tryout to see where he’s at. I expect him to play everyday and then evaluate if he goes back to AAA when Edman is healed. If he plays well he could still get sent back or potentially sticks.
20 hits, 20BB
I am thinking 300 at bats, 0.230, 7-8 homers and 15-16 SBs. He will get one week starting while Edman is on IL and then they can DFA Chris Taylor when Edman is ready to return.
The other alternative is that Kim could play 2B, Edman could share OF patrol with Teo and Andy, and the Conforto experiment would be mercifully ended.
Now if I were GM, Betts in RF, Andy in Center, Teo in LF, Tommy at 2B and Hyeseong at SS with Conforto on bench or traded for scraps and Taylor cut.
Dodgers fans everywhere are glad you’re not the GM
I think Rushing, Freeland and Kim all add more value than Conforto.
I think the investment in Betts is best protected in a corner outfield spot.
I think plenty of Dodger fans agree. Team is doing a great job, always room for a slight improvement in a few areas.
20 errors and 20 times a game you wish you had Lux back?
He is not error prone, so that joke doesn’t make sense
Made a lot more sense then 20 homeruns.
Or maybe you -err metsin4 -spew similar amount of nonsense as Dreifort username does. Ignorant sports fans do not discriminate as to what tribe they join.
MLB Top 100 Commenter; If I’m the Dodgers GM, I would see what it would take to get Cedric Mullins from the Orioles to play center field. He’ll be a free agent after this season & the Orioles have 2 or 3 promising outfield prospects that they’ll probably give a chance to play next season. Pages’ in right, Mullins in center & Teo in right. Betts at shortstop and Edman at 2nd base or vice versa.
Now 3rd base, if Muncy continues struggling offensively and defensively, give Alex Freeland a tryout at 3rd while keeping an eye on Arenado. See closer to the trade deadline if St. Louis is out of the running for a playoff spot, would they be willing to include Helsley with Arenado? 🤷♂️
Oops, should be Pages’ in left, Mullins in center & Teo in right.
Agree that Freeland will get his shot soon. Dodgers don’t want or need Arenado. Would rate play Rushing in LF and Freeland at 3B than consider Arenado.
Bulletin boards will be on fire if Dodgers trade for Helsley. LOL
I’d like to see Rushing getting more reps at 3rd in OKC.
He’d barely get a 20/20 season even if he spent the whole year in AAA.
There’s no way Kim hits 20 HRs in MLB. That’s really not part of his game. HRs are inflated in the PCL, so that won’t carry over to the majors. He can definitely steal 20 bases and hit 20 doubles if that’s what you are referring to.
I agree with this, home runs would be a luxury with Kim, what I’m looking for is hits, stolen bases, legged out doubles and an occasional triple.
IF Kim also developed a nice third base side or drag bunting technique, suddenly that overwhelming MLB velocity gets partially neutralized, infields have to play in, runners on base get a head start, and errant throws and defensive execution get put into play vs Kim’s speed and lefty batter box first step.
Plus any single Kim gets also potentially can be stretched into a stolen base, pitchers & catchers have to counter with fastballs which gives next batter a better pitch to hit.
I’m not looking for home run production, I’m looking for Kim becoming on base traffic, becoming a RISP target and on field distraction on the offensive side, and continuing to be a super utility position player with solid defensive metrics. That’s the kind of player the Dodgers highly value. Edman 2.0 without the power…so far.
More than twenty at bats and twenty innings of defense before he returns to OKC? Perhaps.
Thats weak 40/40 or he is a bust
Padres and Angels fan? Tough break kid.
How so?
Sure, put highly unreasonable expectations in a 26 y/o rookie coming from the KBO, anything to tear down or minimize rival players. By your standards, Jackson Merill would be huge bust since his 2024 rookie season was “only” 24 homers and 16 stolen bases in 156 games. Add in his postseason 0 for 7 in NLDS elimination games 4 & 5 when he (and the rest of the Padres) was needed most.
Figures coming from a Padres & Angels fan, 1 championship from a combined 122 years, and it was the Angels who managed it.
Dodgers fans really don’t get humor do they? I already know the Padres live rent free in your head you don’t have to prove it, we all already know.
Little bros live rent free in a basement apartment with no windows.
Ah yes even more Dodger fans to prove me right 🤣🤣
There is a difference between declaring yourself right and actually being right.
Thank you for keeping proving me right. While Padre fans are living rent free in your head you might want to put some furniture up here it’s pretty empty.
Yeah, Dodger fans will never be able to get over the Padres gift-wrapping the LDS on the way to another chip. Truly devastating….
Yeah I don’t understand, the Dodgers actually had success and instead of enjoying it they obsess over the Padres, it’s very strange.
Just keep repeating the mantra. It must give you comfort.
It’s true so I will 🤣🤣
Dodgers fans obsess over the Giants. Padres are irrelevant.
I obsess about another trophy.
Actually, Dodger fans do not obsess about the Padres. Padres have a good team.
Yes 20 games played 20 at bats with a 150 average
Edman to the injury list is all I can think of in corresponding move.
I was thinking the same thing.
If he doesn’t go to IL, rojas will probably get dfa’d because he is in a contract year and isn’t that good. Him or him
Rojas is staying. He’s too valuable in the middle infield. Taylor or a trade to free up a roster spot is more likely IMHO.
I forgot all about him. Thx
Taylor as a player probably more likely to go than Rojas but also a larger contract dump. As the Dodgers value optionality I’d think Kim gets sent back down even if he plays relatively well. If he plays lights out and seems like a legit MLB player/starter, a difficult decision to make. But I wonder how that can happen if Edman is a short IL stay. Small sample size decisions not likely. I’d think they’re collecting more valuable data on Kim and what he can potentially do for team longer run and postseason.
He’s probably going to be one of those guys that’s subpar with the bat but good with the glove like Nicky Lopez or Andrew Velasquez
Dodgers love to collect SS, 2B, CF super utility players.
I’m glad the Mets are starting to do that, too, with Luisangel Acuña and Jett Williams.
Smart team building. In addition to spending money, of course.
I hope he doesn’t play SS and we’ll see about CF where he hasn’t played much. At SS, he was not good at KBO and not very good at AAA the little he played there. I wonder if his arm strength is not good enough for SS which contributes to errors by rushing throws. Just speculating. I’m guessing majority of time at 2B with some looks at CF?
This move is, obviously, entirely about the Edman injury. They are going to give Tommy a couple of weeks off to rest his sore ankle. It certainly isn’t on account of Kim having distinguished himself at Triple-A, because so far he hasn’t.
exactly
A 105 OPS+, 13-for-13 on SB attempts, and playing 3 positions is solid if not distinguished.
in AAA
Yes, indicating there’s a solid chance he could be helpful on the MLB roster. Noting’s guaranteed, but he’s performing about as expected.
I hope Kim surprises everyone, but more likely he is back in OKC as soon as Tommy’s ankle is healed.
A .798 OPS seems really light in the hitter’s heaven that is the PCL. Normally, it isn’t far fetched to shave off .300 OPS of that PCL OPS. Wouldn’t be surprised if Kim hits around .500 OPS in the majors.
@lets go. But he’s good on the basepaths. Everyone has been saying it won’t translate to the mlb has no power, but his numbers are very close to ha-seong. I’m surprised he has five homeruns when Everyone was saying he was a slap hitter.
Lets Go,
That .798 OPS has been translated to a 105 OPS+ in the PCL, so I wouldn’t call it “really light.”
Jeff Zimmerman at FanGraphs found a .266 point decline a couple of years ago, which is pretty close to your number.
fantasy.fangraphs.com/pcl-to-mlb-hitter-adjustment…
A .500-.530 MLB OPS would be disappointing.
Also, to reiterate, a middling batting performance in the PCL does not translate well to the majors. He probably would have been given more time to adjust there but for the Edman injury. He has plenty of defensive value and can be used as a pinch runner.
@blueskies. If everything was uniform. The draft or free agency wouldn’t be so up and down. But agree it’s probably going to be a two week stint. Maybe play two games, probably pinch run and be a defensive replacement every game to see what he can do.
GBS does seem to be referencing OPS+ of 105 as if that’s impressive.
@paddyo. Kevin pillar was horrible with the whitesox got picked up by the angels and was hitting like a al mvp for a month. Either way i would throw the current numbers out the window. Especially on his first month
paddyo,
I said solid, not impressive.
Slightly above average ranked against other minor leaguers isn’t very solid in major league terms. It means he is a solid minor leaguer at this point. The Dodgers are treating him like an advanced prospect. Seems about right. He’ll get a brief taste of the majors to see if he looks better prepared than he did in spring training.
It’s not like development is linear for all players. He could handle the promotion well, he could tank, or something in between. But it’s not like he’s been bad at Triple-A and the Dodgers are calling him up out of wild desperation.
This seems like pretty much a complete misstatement of everything I said. But, okay.
I wasn’t trying to state what you said, I was stating my own opinion.
I find myself wondering why I’m spending this much time discussing something that will play out for us to see. Given that, I’m done.
13 for 13 SB is impressive at any level
@gbs42. Every white player hits the same too. Advanced stats is a meant to be a measure like the football combine. His sample is too small to predict. The stats nerds take it to serious. I was most talking about people saying he’s going to suck because he’s Korean. I guess we can all sit this one out and watch it unfold.
The point being, nobody said he was being called up “out of wild desperation,” so you exaggerated what was actually said in order to argue against it. This is a classic reduction to the absurd. So yeah, I often find myself wondering how we get to arguing when we actually, pretty much, agree. I guess it’s better than some other things we could be arguing about, so maybe trivial arguments about baseball aren’t such an awful business after all.
I disagree.
Ok, that’s your prerogative. But at what level is 13 of 13 SBs not impressive?
Brew I was funning with BlueSkies. Wasn’t replying to you. 13 straight bags is great.
I know, I was funning with you!
In the morning in the evening ain’t we got fun
He came here for an argument!
If Kim continues to produce as he has lately in the minors then he pushes Tommy to CF and Pages to a corner outfield spot (tho I expect the league to adjust to his success).
Since Teo isn’t going anywhere that leaves Conforto out in the cold for AB’s. Unless he heats up he might be trade bait at mid season? Outman is looking less and less like he can remain in the team’s plans.
Outman is gone by the trade deadline.
Outman has been hitting better in AAA 870 OPS.
He’s not doing anything to hurt his value at OKC the last two weeks. He can start for a multitude of MLB teams but he’s jock blocked in LA.
Conforto is sitting on a $17 million dollar contract…that’s never trade bait unless you’re ripping it up, he’s not…
Probably need to pump those brakes. He was hot at AAA earlier in year but we knew that was probably not sustainable. And we all know that there is a huge difference between AAA (especially PCL) and MLB. 0.798 OPS is not special in the PCL. Heck, he’s seventh in team in OPS for Oklahoma City. Anything can happen but I think expectations are still that he’s a glove/speed guy first and we’ll see if he can hit enough at the MLB level.
Conforto has a long track record of MLB performance. Kim does not. Conforto is really struggling right now but I’d still put my eggs in his basket to revert back to the mean and perform better.
yeah.
They need to bring up Dalton!
to do what exactly”?
Fix the bottom of your order.
there’s no place for Rushing to play.
He can catch once a week. Spot start Freeman especially with his age and injuries and is a better option then Conforto, Rojas and Taylor.
Thank god you’re not running the team. Rushing needs to play every day. And he isn’t getting that at the MLB level right now. And he doesn’t play all the infield positions as do Rojas and Taylor. LF might have been an option but the Dodgers have already given up on that trial.
Yes you tell me how great Barnes, Conforto, Rojas and Taylor are. Let’s get some of that Dodger fan brilliance while you have one of the better prospects in baseball that you are wasting.
Don’t put words in my mouth. Try thinking about what I said instead of doing what you usually do, spouting off thoughtlessly, Rushing is a catcher, with a tiny bit of 1B experience. No way he displaces Freeman or Smith and they don’t want him sitting on the bench 5-6 days a week.
You said thank god I’m not running the team. Not exactly a lot of thought process on your part. Just saying negative stuff as usual with no actual baseball facts to back up what you’re saying.
I guess reading with comprehension is beyond you.
He doesn’t need to play every day. Most young players gradually work themselves into lineups. He has maxed out his learning potential in AAA. All the Dodgers are doing is going to piss him off by hitting his long term earning potential because now he won’t hit free agency into his thirties.
You should give Andy Friedman a call. I’m sure you know more about the Dodgers prospects than he does, by a mile.
I’m sorry. Do you think he is perfect and every decision he makes is infallible? Do you really think bringing in Conforto for 17 mil was a brilliant move? Do you think most baseball fans are dumb and need the team to tell you if it’s a good move or not? It’s not hard to pull up the 4-5 players on your roster that are playing really bad this year.
Conforto has been a complete bust thus far. On that we can all agree.
I’m sorry, but this was a dopey answer.
How hard would it be for Kim to outperform Muncy or Conforto? You guys need to think out of the box….
Muncy? Very hard. Kim is not getting 30+ HRs
Muncy is not hitting 30hr this year. He has one more than I do. Kim should outperform Muncy’s 593 OPS.
We will let Max’s full season speak for itself
Freddie: neither is Muncy.
Kim’s call-up is clearly about Edman’s coming IL stint. And if Kim can stick at 2B, which in turn allows Edman to return CF (where he should be), then the team gets much better.
Because at this point, Conforto has played himself out a job, particularly since Pages needs to play a corner spot and there’s only one of those available. If I were Conforto, I’d even accept a trip to OKC, just to see regular ABs and perhaps work through some things.
Otherwise, he has no business being in the lineup…..
He is being called up for the first time
I see he’s learned the American way, to strike out more
@hoof hearted. It could be he’s getting adjusted like every foreign player before him or a HS player from the draft. I’m guessing it was a troll attempt.
wait didn’t robots say Edman wasn’t playing Friday but definitely would be in the lineup on Saturday? just put a balloon in a chair in the dugout and the team would be the same.
Balloons don’t drink wine.
Kim is being called up for his MLB debut , he is not being re-called !
The article says both. Which is the more accurate? Probably both are, technically, since he was optioned to the minors out of spring training. A player already in the Dodgers minor league system would be reassigned.