Padres' Kim Ha-seong submits mixed performance as lone Korean left in MLB at break

San Diego Padres shortstop Kim Ha-seong flies out in the eighth inning against the Seattle Mariners at Petco Park in San Diego, Calif., Wednesday. AFP-Yonhap

San Diego Padres shortstop Kim Ha-seong has had an up-and-down first half of the 2024 Major League Baseball (MLB) season, with the possibility of a midseason trade looming during his walk year.

Kim finished the first half of the season batting .226/.327/.375 with 10 home runs and a team-best 18 steals. He is also tied for the team lead with 97 games played, and no Padre has drawn more walks than Kim's 48.

Kim, the reigning National League (NL) Gold Glove winner at the utility position, has mostly played shortstop, his primary position from 2022. After Kim played the majority of his games at second base last year while also logging innings at shortstop and third base, the Padres have given him more stability this season.

But he looked uncharacteristically shaky in the early going. He has already committed 10 errors, three more than all of last season.

Kim has been steadier of late. In Outs Above Average, which measures how many outs a player has saved for his team compared with an average fielder, Kim is ninth among all MLB shortstops with +6. Kim ranked seventh among all second basemen last year at +7.

Kim's batting numbers are down across the board from a season ago, but on a positive note, he is striking out less and walking more than in 2023.

Choi Ji-man celebrates his solo home run during the second inning against the Houston Astros at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pa., April 10, 2023. AFP-Yonhap

Some numbers also suggest Kim has been unlucky. His average exit velocity and hard hit rate — percentage of balls in play with an exit velocity of at least 95 mph — are both up from last year. Kim's batting average on balls in play is only .245, down from .306 last year and well below the MLB average of .289. These numbers indicate Kim has had well-struck balls go right at opposing fielders, instead of finding holes for hits.

This is the fourth and final guaranteed year of Kim's contract with the Padres. The deal has a mutual option worth $10 million for 2025, but Kim, who's making $8 million this year, will almost certainly decline that because he could command so much more money per season in a multiyear pact in the open market.

The Padres are still in the postseason hunt, sitting one game out of the final NL Wild Card spot, but they may be tempted to trade Kim before the July 30 trade deadline, rather than risk losing him in free agency for nothing.

Kim is the only Korean player in the majors as MLB enters the All-Star break. Lee Jung-hoo, rookie outfielder for the San Francisco Giants, suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in May, in just his 37th game. Bae Ji-hwan of the Pittsburgh Pirates started the year on the injured list and was slowed by a wrist injury after making his season debut in May. He has just eight games under his belt this season.

Choi Ji-man, a veteran of 525 MLB games, started the season in the minor leagues for the New York Mets but is now a free agent after opting out of his deal at the end of May.

Former Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) pitcher Go Woo-suk signed with the Padres in January but was traded to the Miami Marlins in May without reaching the big leagues. Go has remained stuck in the minors since then.

Park Hoy-jun, who bounced around multiple organizations before landing with the Oakland Athletics, enjoyed a strong spring training but has yet to earn a call-up from Triple-A. (Yonhap)