by Megan Garcia
It was a towering fly ball to deep right field by Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim that made the crowd at Gocheok Sky Dome audibly gasp in the third inning. The crack of the bat resulted in a long double, putting runners in scoring position for the Team Korea against the Dodgers.
Kim’s fingerprints were on both runs scored in the third to give Team Korea a 2–1 lead. But the Dodgers followed up with four unanswered runs, paving to a 5–2 win.
Fast-forward nearly 10 months later — Kim is the newest utilityman of the Dodgers. He agreed to a three-year deal with the Dodgers on Friday, which was his final day of eligibility to be signed by a Major League team.
“It was eye-popping to watch the way he moved in what he did against us,” said Executive Vice President and General Manager Brandon Gomes.
The Dodgers were already familiar with Kim long before they embarked to Seoul in early 2024. They knew he was fast on the base paths, could make consistent contact at the plate and — quite importantly — play multiple positions.
The 25-year-old has more than 950 games under his belt in the Korean Baseball Organization. He finished the 2024 season with a career-high 75 RBI and 11 home runs with Kiwoom. His .326 batting average ranked 13th in the KBO. He also cracked the top 10 in stolen bases with 30.
“You’re talking about a double-plus runner, really good utility player that can play all over the diamond with some real upside to the bat,” Gomes said. “The ability to add somebody with that talent, plus upside, I feel like it’s a really good piece for us.”
Kim was posted to all MLB in early December after eight seasons in the seasons in the KBO. He played six seasons with the Kiwoom Heroes and two with the Nexen Heroes.
The Goyang, Gyeonggi, South Korea native has grown as a well-rounded player since he started his professional career in 2017 with Nexen. He steadily increased his batting average by .116 points over his first five professional seasons and has stayed above the .300 line since 2021.
The 2021 season it also marked the first of three consecutive years that Kim won a KBO Fielding Award while playing four different positions for Kiwoom. He was also the KBO stolen base leader in 2021 with 46 in 50 attempts.
“(With) our injuries last year, it’s helpful to have really strong pieces in a lot of different areas.” Gomes said.
In order to make room on the 40-man roster for Kim, former №1 prospect Diego Cartaya was designated for assignment. Cartaya posted a .236/.340/.435/.775 career slash line in five seasons in the Dodgers’ farm system.
KBO Utilityman Hyeseong Kim signs three-year deal with the Dodgers was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.