After a career-high season in his third year in the major leagues, Kim Ha-seong (28, San Diego Padres) is returning home.
Kim’s Korean management company, Summit Management, announced on May 5 (local time), “Kim will return home through Incheon Airport on the 11th.”
Kim had a successful season this year, fulfilling his potential in his third year in the big leagues. In 152 games, he batted .260 (140-for-538) with 17 home runs, 60 RBI, 84 runs scored, 38 stolen bases, and a .749 OPS as San Diego’s leadoff hitter.
In particular, Kim invoked the names of two other Asian major league legends, Shin-Soo Choo and Ichiro Suzuki. With 38 stolen bases on the season, Kim broke Shin-soo Choo’s record for most stolen bases in a season by a Korean major leaguer (22). Kim also matched Ichiro with a 15-game streak of multi-hit games from July 23 against the Detroit Tigers to August 8 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. 토토사이트
Kim attempted to become the first Asian-American major leaguer to reach the 20-homer, 40-steal milestone, but fell short due to a late-season health scare. Still, he did his part as a leadoff man, finishing fifth in the National League in stolen bases, tied for 12th in walks (75), and 24th in on-base percentage (.351). He finished with a 5.8 bWAR per Baseball Reference, good for eighth in the NL. His contributions were so significant that the only player on the San Diego team with a higher bWAR than Kim was Cy Young candidate Blake Snell (6.0).
After a successful third year in the big leagues, Kim will return home on the 11th and slowly build up his body for next season with a program that he has already prepared in advance.