SEOUL, Having seen his power numbers improve in each of his first three major league seasons, San Diego Padres infielder Kim Ha-seong said Saturday he is ready to hit for even more power in Year 4.
Kim left for Los Angeles in the day to begin his preparation for the new season, before reporting to spring training in Arizona. Last year, Kim left South Korea on Jan. 27.
“I am leaving earlier than usual because I really want to do well this year,” Kim told reporters gathered at Incheon International Airport, just west of Seoul. “I’ve been working hard this winter, and I think I will be even better this year than the last.”
Defensively, Kim will be hard pressed to top his 2023 campaign, when he became the first Asian infielder to win a Gold Glove. At the plate, Kim set career highs across the board with 17 home runs, 60 RBIs, 140 hits and a .398 slugging percentage.
Those are fine numbers for a middle infielder with an excellent glove, but still a far cry from his 30 home runs, 109 RBIs and a .523 slugging p
ercentage from Kim’s final season with the Kiwoom Heroes in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) in 2020.
Kim went from those numbers to just eight homers and a .352 slugging percentage in his first Major League Baseball (MLB) season. Even considering the gap in pitching quality between the KBO and MLB, it was still a significant drop. And Kim said he still wasn’t entirely satisfied with his hitting in 2023.
“I wanted to increase my slugging percentage last year, but I didn’t have the kind of number I’d wanted,” said Kim, who had slugged at a .383 clip in 2022 and only had a .015 increase in 2023. “I’ve been doing a lot of weight lifting, and I’ve bulked up. I should be able to hit for more power this year.”
Kim is entering the final season of his contract. With the Padres apparently in some financial trouble, Kim has been mentioned in persistent trade speculation this winter. Rather than risk losing Kim for nothing in free agency after this season, the Padres may consider trading him in exchange for asse
ts.
The Padres may also choose to give Kim a contract extension and keep him around for a few more years. Some reports have claimed Kim could commend as much as US$150 million over seven years.
“I don’t know if I will get that kind of offer or not, but I am grateful,” Kim said. “This gives me extra motivation to play well this year.”
Unless Kim is traded in the next couple of months, he will make his 2024 regular season debut on his old stomping ground in Seoul, as the Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers are set to play in the historic “Seoul Series” on March 20 and 21 at Gocheok Sky Dome. These will be the first MLB regular season games ever to be played in South Korea.
“The Seoul Series is going to be important, and I hope I can hit the ground running and play well from the start,” Kim said.
Kim will be making the trip to South Korea with countryman Go Woo-suk, a former LG Twins closer who signed a two-year deal with the Padres earlier this month.
“I am so happy to have Woo-suk as my teammate. Having a
fellow Korean on the same team will help with life on and off the field,” Kim said. “I will try to help him as much as I can, starting in spring training. Hopefully, we’ll both have a good season.”
Kim and Go were former KBO opponents who will now become teammates. With another new South Korean player in the majors this year, it will be the exact opposite for Kim.
His ex-Heroes teammate Lee Jung-hoo has signed a six-year, $113 million contract with the San Francisco Giants, and the two close friends will now be part of the National League West rivalry between the Giants and the Padres.
“I am going to catch everything he hits in my direction,” Kim said. “I was really hoping he would come to my team, but I also want to congratulate him on his deal. At the same time, he’s the younger guy, and I think I am supposed to play better than Jung-hoo.”
While in South Korea during his offseason, Kim also found himself mired in some off-field controversy. His former KBO teammate Lim Hye-dong accused Kim of physical as
sault, but Kim responded by filing a complaint against Lim over blackmail and defamation charges.
Lim is under investigation for extorting large sums of money from Kim and another MLB player from South Korea, Ryu Hyun-jin, in settlement after alleged altercations with the two big leaguers.
Kim declined to offer details on the situation, only saying, “I’ve clearly stated my case with the authorities, and I hope there will no longer be any more victims.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency