LOS ANGELES — Hyeseong Kim is a problem.
For opponents. For the Dodgers.
A good problem, if you’re the club employing and enjoying him.
First the versatile 26-year-old MLB rookie and Korean Baseball Organization All-Star wouldn’t let the Dodgers send him back down to the minor leagues, forcing them instead to make a choice – and making the decision easy between him and Chris Taylor, a nine-year mainstay who the club released on May 18.
And now? Kim might not let the Dodgers put him back on the bench much more, though where he’ll play and whose innings he’ll take creates an exquisite conundrum for a club as loaded as his is.
But c’mon! How can anyone watch this young talent not want to see less pine and more maple, or ash or birch or whatever components make up the bats he’s using to spray the ball all over the field – and beyond?
Because even on Saturday, as the Dodgers ganged up mercilessly on the New York Yankees, reasserting their dominance with a gaudy 18-2 victory over the team they beat in last season’s World Series, the new guy stood out.
Yes, veteran slugger Max Muncy hit two home runs – the 200th and 201st of his career – but Kim, the guy who they call “Comet” in South Korea, who strolls to the plate to a song called “Comet” by South Korean singer Younha, he showed us his K-pop off the bat, raking a 412-foot second-inning homer to right-center field.
And, yep, Freddie Freeman passed Ken Griffey Jr. and tied Willie Mays and Ted Williams with his 525th career double, but Kim’s one-man double play – snagging a line drive and then diving to tag second base with his glove, taking Austin Wells from the basepaths in the third inning – will be the play I remember most.
That sequence – and Kim’s assist off the carom from center field to nab Aaron Judge at second base – showed off not only his athleticism, but his savvy, and it had the Dodgers’ official social media accounts tweeting: “Hyeseong him!”
“Made a great play defensively that saved (winning pitcher) Landon (Knack),” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who started Kim at shortstop in place of Mookie Betts, who missed the fun because he was out with a broken toe.
“And to get Judge – the throw, showed the arm strength there. Played a really heck of a ball game … he’s an all-around good baseball player.”
While the Dodgers (36-22) spent the game running it up, their onslaught pushing them past the Chicago Cubs in the running total of most runs – 340 – in the majors, the baby big leaguer offered a heavyweight’s contribution from the back of the order, going 4 for 4 with a walk, two RBIs and three runs scored.
That pushed his 21-game average to .422. He’s collected 19 hits in 45 at-bats and scored 13 runs – numbers that only help him build his case for more playing time, your honor. Put him in, Coach.
Whatever the Dodgers expected in early May, when they called up Kim, he’s exceeded it.
“He’s got really good instincts out there,” Muncy said. “Really fun to watch.”
The already-forgotten notion a few weeks ago seemed to be that Kim’s speed could make him an asset off the bench while Tommy Edman was injured. And that when Edman returned, Kim likely was headed back to Triple-A Oklahoma City to continue to refine his approach at the plate – an initial demotion he didn’t expect, but that he didn’t complain about either.
Instead, he made the most of his time in Triple-A, focusing on leveraging his lower half, down-sizing his leg kick, improving his power – while hitting .252 with eight doubles, one triple, five home runs, 19 RBIs and a .798 OPS and also stealing 13 bases in 13 attempts. At OKC, Kim – who signed a three-year, $12.5 million deal with the Dodgers in the offseason – played second base, shortstop and center field.
And he proved a quick study. Because with every opportunity since being called up, the left-handed-hitting Kim has been telling the Dodgers he belongs.
That he could be a problem for Miguel Rojas, the veteran infielder who went 0 for 2 and grounded into the Dodgers’ only double play, his batting average dropping to .224.
That Kim wants to take the baton and run with it, like he had to run postgame, unavailable to comment on his good day that left everyone else buzzing.
“Hyeseong, there’s just something about him,” Roberts said. “That youthful enthusiasm, that joy, he’s just happy to be out there, happy to be on the team, and guys feed off the energy, and he takes really good at-bats, he competes.
“And, you know, giving him some runway, he’s making good on and taking advantage of it.”
Kim’s next window for takeoff, Roberts said: Monday night against the New York Mets.