PADRES ABLE TO DEPEND ON KIM
While Machado flashy, smooth, Korean import is as fundamental as they come
“As a defender, I don’t worry about it being f lashy. I just want to be safe.” Ha-Seong Kim • Padres infielder
Ha-Seong Kim is as flawless as Manny Machado is smooth.
“That’s two extremes right there, for sure,” Eric Hosmer said.
Machado plays defense like he is about to hit the snooze button and roll back over to get some more sleep. Kim plays it like he’s late for an appointment.
Machado is 6 feet, 3 inches of arms and legs and the kind of talent that gets handed out once every couple million conceptions. Kim is 5 feet, 9 inches of highly caffeinated effort and legs that churn like a cartoon character.
And yet, the net result is virtually indistinguishable. Kim, who spent most of the first 68 games of the season filling in at shortstop for Fernando Tatis Jr., started at third base Friday for the 10th time in 11 games. And the Padres have hardly noticed the difference.
“There’s no fluke in his game,” Machado, who has not played third base since injuring his ankle running out a grounder on June 19, said of Kim. “He goes out there every day, and he’s one of the best defenders I’ve been around and been a (teammate) of.”
While defensive runs saved is merely one measure of defensive prowess, it is at least informative to note that Machado has two DRS in 504 innings at third base this season and Kim has two
DRS in 153 innings there.
“He’s the closest thing to sure hands as you can see,” Hosmer said of Kim. “If the ball is hit at him, he’s going to make the play.”
And he’s going to do it the way it was written in textbooks and shown in instructional films from the 1950s. He is going to circle around and bend his knees and scoop the ball as his body carries him toward where he is about to throw.
It is at odds with how most major leaguers play the field. And it clearly seemed like an odd thing to marvel at to Ha-Seong Kim.
He’s fundamentally sound, yes. Virtually always takes the correct route to a grounder, has his body in position to throw. Sets himself under pop flies.
There’s something different about it.
“Of course,” Kim said. “I focus on fundamentals since my Korean days.”
There it is. That’s what it
“Knowing the Korean culture, the importance of defenses is even more important than offense in that culture,” said Padres third base and infield coach Matt Williams, who managed the past two seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization, where Kim played from 2014 to ’20.
Williams motioned toward the Padres clubhouse as he continued, “Generally, if you ask anybody in there ‘Who wants to go take extra grounders?’ as opposed to ‘Who wants to hit extra?’ they’re all gonna choose hitting extra. But the culture in Korea is that the defense is always most important and done first from spring training on. And then the offense comes after that. So the fundamentals are key.”
Williams believes that has helped Kim take a big step this season. And the theory makes sense.
Obviously overwhelmed by the pitching much of his first season in the major leagues, Kim could play defense from the start. As he worked to assimilate to the culture and bring his offense up to an acceptable level, he didn’t have to worry about his glove.
Kim entered Friday having
already made 240 plate appearances this season, just 27 fewer than all of ’21. And his .225 batting average is 23 points higher than last season.
“He’s consistent in how he approaches defense,” Williams said. “And his hitting is getting better and better
and better. So he’s rounding into a fine major leaguer.”
Kim chuckled at the mention of the difference between the way he and Machado play defense.
“There is no one like Manny,” he said.
Not in style. But Kim
strives for the same substance.
“Since arriving in the big leagues, I’ve been trying to do what Manny does on the field,” Kim said through interpreter Leo Bae. “Because I want to be a player like Manny who gives stability to the pitchers and our team
that every time the ball is coming at you, nobody worries about it. That’s the type of player I want to be. As a defender, I don’t worry about it being flashy. I just want to be safe. Stability, that’s what I’m looking for.”