Now, the grand slam has hit the home run. What kind of scenes will ‘Awesome Kim’ show?
Ha-seong “Awesome Kim” Kim (28) 소닉카지노 of the San Diego Padres hit the slope to hit a grand slam home run for the first time since his major league debut.
Ha-seong Kim started as the first hitter and second baseman in the ‘2023 Major League’ Miami Marlins game held at Petco Park in San Diego, California, USA on the 22nd (Korean time), and made a big success with 2 hits, 4 RBIs and 2 points in 4 at-bats including a grand home run. .
Ha-seong Kim hit a right-handed double from his first at-bat in the bottom of the first inning, and even succeeded in stealing the 28th base of the season, starting off in a good mood. In the bottom of the second inning, Kim Ha-seong, who was hit for the second time with a chance to load bases with one out, hit left-hander Ryan Weathers’ 96.6 mile (155.5 km) fastball despite being at a disadvantage with a ball count of 2S, exploding a left-handed home run. It was the first grand slam hit in his 388 major league debuts. It was a heavy hit as San Diego ran away 5-0.
San Diego was able to win easily, 6-2, thanks to Kim Ha-seong taking the lead in ‘breaking down’ the Miami mound. The season record is 60 wins and 66 losses. Because of Kim Ha-seong, San Diego cannot give up the competition for the National League wild card yet.
Suddenly, Ha-seong Kim marked his 17th home run of the season and was in a position to look at his first 20 home runs in his major league debut.
This year, Kim Ha-seong is having the best season of his life. Kim Ha-seong, who played in 121 games this season, completed 414 at-bats in 481 at-bats with 116 hits, 71 runs, .280 batting average, .370 on-base percentage, .449 slugging percentage, .820 OPS, 17 home runs, 49 RBIs, and 28 stolen bases (7 losses). is running all over the place.
Will Ha-seong Kim add a few more home runs and end the 2023 season? Since he has already surpassed several Korean major league seniors with his single-season record, Kim Ha-seong’s future move draws more attention.
There are a total of 14 Korean major leaguers who have hit at least one home run so far.
Choo Shin-soo, who played in 1,652 games in total, is unique with 218 home runs in his personal career in the major leagues. Choi Ji-man followed with 67, followed by Kang Jeong-ho with 46 and Choi Hee-seop with 40 respectively.
Kim Ha-seong has already reached the 5th place in the history of Korean career with 35 homers in the major leagues. Behind Kim Ha-seong, Lee Dae-ho recorded 14, Park Byeong-ho 12, Kim Hyun-soo 7, and Park Hyo-jun 5 each.
‘Korean Express’ Park Chan-ho also hit 3 career homers, Bae Ji-hwan has 2, and Ryu Hyun-jin, Baek Cha-seung, and Hwang Jae-gyun also left personal footprints with 1 career home run.
Even in a single season, it is not difficult to see that Choo Shin-soo recorded the most home runs. Choo Shin-soo set a career high in his 15th year in the major leagues by hitting 24 homers in 2019 when he was with the Texas Rangers.
After moving to the Cleveland Indians (currently the Cleveland Guardians) in 2006, Choo Shin-soo started hitting three home runs, then hit 14 home runs in 2018, 20 home runs in 2009, 22 home runs in 2010, 8 home runs in 2011, and 16 home runs in 2012. After showing his pace and being traded to the Cincinnati Reds in 2013, he left 21 homers, and after moving to Texas in 2014, he hit 14 homers, starting with 22 homers in 2015, 7 homers in 2016, 22 homers in 2017, He recorded 21 home runs in 2018, 24 home runs in 2019, and 5 home runs in 2020, respectively, marking a total of 218 home runs.
Kang Jung-ho is the only Korean major leaguer to have a 20 home run season along with Choo Shin-soo. Kang Jung-ho made a splendid debut by hitting 15 homers in Pittsburgh in 2015, and in 2016, he recorded 21 homers in just 103 games, showing the power of Koreans. However, after that, he had to take a break due to the drunk driving scandal and succeeded in returning at the end of the 2018 season, but disappeared from the major league stage after recording 10 home runs in 2019.
Choi Ji-man, who is still playing in the major leagues, is a hitter who can expect double-digit homers every year, but he has never hit 20 homers in a season. Choi Ji-man, who debuted on the major league stage with the LA Angels in 2016, hit 5 home runs, hit 2 home runs at the New York Yankees in 2017, and exploded 10 home runs through the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays in 2018. 2019 was the season with the highest number of home runs by Choi Ji-man. Choi Ji-man grew into a key player of the team as he exploded his 19 homers. Choi Ji-man, who left three home runs in 2020, which was a shortened season, recorded 11 home runs in 2021 and 11 home runs in 2022, respectively, and this year, he is marking six home runs while going through Pittsburgh and San Diego. He is currently on the disabled list with a sprained left rib.
Hee-seop Choi, who once drew attention as a great prospect in the major leagues, debuted on the major league stage with the Chicago Cubs in 2002, hit two home runs, and showed potential by hitting eight home runs in 2003. A turning point has been reached. Choi Hee-seop, who hit 15 home runs in Florida, was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers during the season, but he ended the season without hitting a single home run. He hit 15 homers again as a member of the Dodgers in 2005, but since then, he has not been seen playing in the major leagues.
Lee Dae-ho, who conquered the Korean and Japanese stages and succeeded in advancing to the major leagues, hit 14 home runs while playing for the Seattle Mariners in 2016 while being appointed as a platoon. However, Lee Dae-ho returned to Korea in 2017, and his career home run count also remained at 14. Park Byung-ho also wore a Minnesota Twins uniform in 2016 and hit 12 home runs, but has not been seen playing in the major leagues since. He also returned to Korea in 2018.
As such, out of 14 Korean major leaguers who hit home runs in the major leagues, only 7 players hit double-digit home runs in one season, or only half of them.
Meanwhile, Kim Ha-seong challenges the most home runs in a season by a Korean major leaguer. He passed Byeong-ho Park, Dae-ho Lee, and Hee-seop Choi in turn, as he had already hit 17 homers. In the future, if you add just two home runs, you will tie Choi Ji-man’s 2019, and if you add just 4 home runs, you will be shoulder to shoulder with Kang Jung-ho’s 2016. If you hit 7 more home runs, you can show the same number as Choo Shin-soo in 2019. Now, in front of Kim Ha-seong, there are only three major league seniors: Choo Shin-soo, Kang Jeong-ho, and Choi Ji-man.
Currently, San Diego has played 126 games. There are only 36 games left until the 162th game. Arithmetically, Ha-seong Kim appears to be able to hit 21.9 home runs, close to 22. Therefore, it may be realistically difficult to surpass Choo Shin-soo’s record for the most home runs in a single season by a Korean major leaguer. However, it is expected that he will be able to record 20 home runs for the first time in his life in the big leagues. If Ha-seong Kim achieves 20 home runs, he will become the third Korean major leaguer to hit 20 home runs after Shin-soo Choo and Jeong-ho Kang.
It is a record that can be greedy enough for Kim Ha-seong, who has already left 28 stolen bases. As a Korean major leaguer, attention is focusing on whether he can succeed in joining the club with 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases, becoming the second Korean major leaguer after Choo Shin-soo. In addition, if Kim Ha-seong succeeds in joining the 20 home run-20 stolen base club, he can become the first Asian infielder to record.
Kim Ha-seong, who exploded with his first major league debut home run in the first inning this season, his first multi-home run in his debut, and his first slam home run in his debut, is looking forward to what new scenes he will show in the rest of the season. Kim Ha-seong still has more to show.