San Diego Padres infielder Kim Ha-seong (28), who is on an upward curve in the 2023 season, was selected as a second baseman candidate for the All-MLB team.안전놀이터
Major League Baseball’s official website ‘MLB.com’ announced the All-MLB team second baseman candidates on the 5th (Korean time).
The All-MLB team announces the official candidates in November after the season ends, then goes through fan voting (50%) and expert panel voting (50%) and announces the final results in December. According to the voting results, they are classified into ‘First Team’ and ‘Second Team’, and the players who received the highest score for each position (5 starting pitchers, 2 bullpen pitchers, 1 infielder for each position, and 3 outfielders regardless of position) are assigned to the first team. The runners-up are selected and selected as the second team.
Ha-seong Kim was listed as a ‘challenger’ in the list of potential award candidates, strong competitors who will keep them in check, and dark horses.
Ha-seong Kim is hitting a career high this year in his third year in the big league. He is showing outstanding performance in all offensive indicators with a batting average of 0.275 (126 hits in 459 at-bats), 17 home runs, 52 RBIs, 31 stolen bases, and an OPS of 0.794.
In particular, he meets the team’s leadoff and shows off his excellent on-base ability, giving vitality to the team’s attack. From the Pittsburgh Pirates game on July 25th to the Arizona Diamondbacks game on the 13th of last month, he hit a hit in 16 consecutive games, matching the Korean record of consecutive hits set by Choo Shin-soo during his time in Cincinnati in 2013.
In addition, from the Detroit Tigers game on July 23rd to the LA Dodgers game on the 8th, he played 2 on base games in 15 consecutive games, tying the record of 2 consecutive on bases held by the legendary Ichiro Suzuki.
‘MLB.com’ said, “Kim Ha-seong was the most valuable player in San Diego, leading the team. His contribution to wins compared to replacement players (fWAR) calculated by FanGraphs is 4.4,” and “He does not hit the ball hard, but he has his own unique skills.” “I create a zone and don’t swing at bad balls. In addition, I have already succeeded in stealing 31 bases, and when I played as a second baseman, I also recorded +10 in DRS (how many runs were prevented by defense), ranking 4th among second basemen.” He highlighted his activities.
Meanwhile, the leading candidates for second baseman on the All-MLB team are Marcus Simeon (33, Texas Rangers) and Luis Araes (26, Miami Marlins), who worked together with Ryu Hyun-jin for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Siemian is playing a central role in the Texas offense this year, recording a batting average of 0.271 (154 hits in 568 at-bats), 20 home runs, and an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.793. Araes shows off his outstanding batting ability by ranking first in the entire league in batting average (0.356, 183 hits in 514 at-bats), and is also on the verge of reaching 200 hits for the first time in his debut.
The player who was considered a strong challenger along with Ha-seong Kim is Aji Albis (26, Atlanta Braves), who is recording 28 home runs and a slugging percentage of 0.503 this year.
Other dark horses included Ketel Marte (30, Arizona), Gleyber Torres (27, New York Yankees), Bryson Stutt (26, Philadelphia Phillies), and Nico Horner (26, Chicago Cubs).