San Diego manager Bob Melvin gave a small hint about the starting lineup on the 13th after the game against the LA Dodgers on the 12th (Korean time). It was a remark implying that Kim Ha-seong (28, San Diego) was taking a break.
Coach Melvin said in an interview with local media such as the San Diego Union-Tribune, “Every time he steps on the field now, I worry that something will happen. Although he is small, he plays hard with passion,” and added, “I am really worried about him.” I was concerned that his physical strength and play style could cause injury. He seemed to mean that it was time to give him a break.
‘The San Diego Union-Tribune’ also said, ‘Coach Melvin said several times this season that he wanted to rest his starting players more often, but he had no choice but to keep the horses running as San Diego attempted to make up the standings,’ according to Fangraphs. “Now that the season is almost over, it is said that San Diego has a 0.1% chance of securing a wild card spot,” he said, adding that it is time for San Diego to throw the season away. He then said, ‘Today it is Kim Ha-seong’s turn.’
Ha-seong Kim can now be said to be the team’s core player. He plays second base, shortstop, and third base skillfully. So, it is appropriate to give key players a break. In fact, San Diego was able to control the defensive innings of key players by using Ha-seong Kim as leverage. In addition to what is revealed through records, the invisible contribution was also enormous.
For example, if Xander Bogaerts needed a rest, Ha-seong Kim went to shortstop. Bogaerts rests or plays as a designated hitter. When Manny Machado needed a break, Ha-seong Kim went to third base. Bogaerts was able to play shortstop, use another player at second base, and use Machado as the designated hitter. However, there was a point where Kim Ha-seong suffered ‘overuse’ during this process.
안전놀이터As other players were put in as designated hitters first, Ha-seong Kim had to keep switching from position to position as a starter. Ha-seong Kim started all 48 games the team played, from the game against Detroit on July 22nd to the LA Dodgers game on the 12th, and including substitute appearances, he appeared in all 56 games starting with the Mets game on July 10th, the last game of the first half of the year.
In fact, it is not easy to find a precedent for a center infielder to go out in 56 games without resting even once. There are cases where a day game is played in the last game of a three-game series, and most teams take turns resting players. Taking this into consideration, Ha-Seong Kim played a schedule that may have reduced his stamina.
However, it was difficult for his team to leave out Ha-seong Kim. This is because, in a situation where the roster is limited, if Ha-Seong Kim is missing, the team would have to suffer a huge loss in power. If the team’s performance was slightly better, it would have been acceptable to take the loss and give Kim Ha-seong a break, but that was not the case in San Diego.
San Diego, whose winning percentage fell below .500 in the middle of the season, had an urgent need to make up for it in order to advance to the postseason. Most players, including Kim Ha-seong, had to continue playing. This pattern became more evident as the team decided to continue running rather than give up on the season ahead of the July trade deadline.
In this situation, Ha-Seong Kim continued to play in the game, but as a human being, his physical strength was bound to decline, and his batting performance eventually continued to suffer.
This is especially true because it is a position that already has a heavy defensive burden. The central infield, played by Ha-seong Kim, has a lot of movement. He also has the challenge of having to prepare for a variety of plays. The position with the greatest physical burden next to catcher is usually considered a keystone position (second baseman/shortstop). Ha-seong Kim played 777⅔ innings as a second baseman, 245⅓ innings as a third baseman, and 128⅓ innings as a shortstop this year. A total of 1151⅓ innings. Even in the major leagues, he has a top-tier defense.
In addition, Ha-seong Kim is a player who plays actively on the base as well. He has already stolen more than 30 bases. There are signs that his batting performance has suffered in the process. Ha-seong Kim boasted of his peak batting skills until his consecutive game appearances began. Ha-seong Kim recorded a batting average of 0.291 and OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.844 in 27 games in June. In the 24 games in July, he was at his peak with a batting average of 0.337 and an OPS of 1.000.
However, his batting skills declined after mid-August, and his batting average fell to 0.273 and OPS to 0.752 in 28 games in August. He continued, and through 10 games in September, he is hitting .195 with an OPS of .462. He is completely exhausted, and it shows in the quality of his batting.
If San Diego’s performance had been a little more lenient, he would have provided Kim Ha-seong with adequate rest, and this rest would have provided fuel to run until the end of the season. However, San Diego did not have that luxury, and Kim Ha-seong’s batting average in the last 30 games fell to 0.217, and his season batting average also fell to 0.270. This is a disappointing point, and attention is being paid to whether it could be an opportunity for San Diego to change the manual written by Ha-seong Kim next year.