The Padres positioned Ha-Seong Kim on the 10-day injured listing, retroactive to August 19, with proper shoulder irritation. San Diego recalled Matthew Batten to take the open spot on the energetic roster.
This isn’t a lot of a shock after Kim left Sunday’s recreation with what the group initially known as a jammed shoulder. The versatile infielder dove into first base on a pickoff try and got here up in apparent ache. Supervisor Mike Shildt stated yesterday that the group was inspired by the preliminary MRI outcomes, however they’ll nonetheless go with out their shortstop for no less than per week and a half. Shildt stated right now that the membership wasn’t particularly involved and believed Kim may’ve made it again inside 10 days, however the group as an alternative determined to play issues cautiously (X hyperlink by way of AJ Cassavell of MLB.com).
It marks the primary injured listing stint of Kim’s MLB profession. The South Korea native has been exceptionally sturdy since signing a four-year deal going into the 2021 season. He reached the 150-game plateau in each 2022 and ’23. Whereas that gained’t occur this 12 months, he may high 140 contests if the harm proves comparatively insignificant.
Kim is having his usually stable season. He’s strolling sufficient to compensate for fringy energy and carries a league common .233/.330/.370 slash in 470 plate appearances. He has swiped 22 bases on 27 makes an attempt. San Diego dedicated to Kim as a full-time shortstop this season after bouncing him across the infield throughout his first three years. He has higher than common defensive grades in additional than 1000 innings on the infield’s hardest spot. Tyler Wade is taking on at shortstop in his absence.
The 28-year-old Kim is headed again to free company subsequent offseason. He’ll actually decline his finish of an $8MM mutual choice in favor of a $2MM buyout. Kim has a shot at one other four- or five-year deal that’d include a a lot stronger common annual worth than the $7MM he obtained when he was first coming over from Korea. A critical shoulder harm may naturally affect his market worth. It appears he dodged a bullet with a reasonably minor problem that may solely sideline him for a minimal period of time.
