Kim Hye-sung, who is active in the LA Dodgers, will face off against his 'close friend' Lee Jung-hoo of the San Francisco Giants. Will Kim Hye-sung, who has been suffering from severe batting difficulties this month, make a comeback?
The Dodgers will clash with San Francisco on the 12th at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California, United States (Korea time).
The Dodgers have chosen Dustin May as the starting pitcher. They arranged the batting order as Ohtani Shohei-Mookie Betts-Freddie Freeman-Will Smith-Teoscar Hernández-Michael Conforto-Andrés Muñoz-Kim Hye-sung-Tommy Edman.
San Francisco has set its starting lineup with Mike Yastrzemski-Heliot Ramos-Rafael Devers-Matt Chapman-Willy Adames-Lee Jung-hoo-Kasey Schmidt-Dominic Smith-Patrick Bailey. Ace Logan Webb will take the mound.
After graduating from Dongsan High School, Kim Hye-sung began his professional career as a first-round pick in the second draft by the Nexen Heroes in 2017. Until last year, he played in a total of 953 games in the first team, recording a batting average of .304 (3,433 at-bats, 1,043 hits), 37 home runs, 386 RBIs, 591 runs, 211 stolen bases, and an OPS of .767.
Last year, he successfully finished the season with a batting average of .326 (509 at-bats, 166 hits), 11 home runs, 75 RBIs, 90 runs, 30 stolen bases, and an OPS of .841, and pursued his entry into Major League Baseball through the posting system, signing a contract with the Dodgers for 3+2 years, valued at up to $22 million.
Kim Hye-sung appeared in 15 spring training games, achieving 6 hits in 29 at-bats with a batting average of .207, 1 home run, 3 RBIs, and 6 runs, failing to secure a spot on the opening roster.
Kim Hye-sung, who began this season in Triple-A, got an opportunity for a call-up to the big leagues in May. His first impression was strong. He appeared in 21 games in May, achieving 19 hits in 45 at-bats with a batting average of .422, 7 RBIs, 2 home runs, 13 runs, and 4 stolen bases.
In June, he played in 16 games, achieving 12 hits in 36 at-bats with a batting average of .333, 5 RBIs, 3 runs, and 3 stolen bases. However, his performance has been poor this month, with only 3 hits in 21 at-bats and a batting average of .143 and 2 stolen bases over 8 games.
Lee Jung-hoo has a batting average of .245 (335 at-bats, 82 hits), 6 home runs, 37 RBIs, 49 runs, 6 stolen bases, and an OPS of .705 this season. He seemed to be on the rise with a batting average of .324 (102 at-bats, 33 hits) in April, but has seen a downward trend with a batting average of .231 (108 at-bats, 25 hits) in May and .143 (84 at-bats, 12 hits) in June.
This month, he appeared to rebound with a batting average of .296 (8 hits in 27 at-bats), but it is still not at a satisfactory level.
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