ATLANTA — When Hyeseong Kim decided to leave South Korea and sign with the Dodgers last winter, it wasn’t to play in Oklahoma City.
But that’s where the 26-year-old Kim has spent the first month of his career in the United States after failing to make the Dodgers’ roster out of spring training. But he got the word after Friday night’s game that he was being promoted to the majors.
“I was very surprised,” Kim said through his interpreter, sitting in the dugout at Truist Park after an early-morning flight to Atlanta on Saturday. “After the game last night, our Triple-A manager, Henny (Scott Hennessey) announced to me that I was going to go to the Show. I came in with a very happy and very excited mindset. I’m really excited right now.”
Kim’s delayed major-league debut is likely to be a cameo.
The Korean infielder signed to a three-year, $12.5 million contract last winter was promoted when the Dodgers decided to place Tommy Edman on the injured list with an ankle injury.
Edman went through a workout Friday afternoon, testing the ankle he injured on a slide during Tuesday’s game. The results were not enough to convince the Dodgers he would be ready to play this weekend.
“He ran yesterday and just still didn’t feel great, still some soreness in his ankle,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
The IL move will be backdated and Edman will be eligible to return next Saturday. By then, the inflammation in the tendon he stretched should have subsided.
And Kim will likely be headed back to OKC at that point to continue to work on the swing changes he has been asked to make in order to compete at the major-league level where velocity and power pitching are more prevalent than he was accustomed to in Korea.
“That’s the plan, yes,” Roberts said of Kim’s visit being temporary. “But again, he earned the opportunity, albeit potentially a short stint. You never know with baseball.”
Through 28 games with OKC, Kim hit .252 with eight doubles, a triple, five home runs, 19 RBIs and a .798 OPS while stealing 13 bases in 13 attempts. He has played second base, shortstop and center field for OKC.
“For now I feel really very comfortable, very confident,” Kim said.
“I would say that there’s still a lot of space where I have to get better. But compared to Day One that I came here, it’s been better to what I used to be. I still have to go work on it.”
The swing changes have involved “everything,” Kim said (most noticeably a down-sized leg kick). A perennial all-star in the KBO, Kim said all the changes – and the assignment to the minor leagues – have not caused any regrets about his decision to leave Korea.
“No, I wasn’t really frustrated,” he said. “It was just that I had a lot of things to work on. My mindset was that I had to do my work hard, give some good effort and then I’d get called up to the big leagues.”
Saturday’s lineup provided an indication that Kim’s promotion was not a declaration by the Dodgers that he is ready for the big leagues on a full-time basis. Despite facing a right-handed pitcher in Spencer Schwellenbach, the left-handed Kim was not in the starting lineup. Chris Taylor got the start at second base.
“It’s a process. He’s making strides,” Roberts said of Kim’s adjustments. “And this quite frankly can be a good opportunity for him to see some major-league pitching and to see the quality, and also to get his feet wet to make his major-league debut here in the States.
“I think right now it’s going to kind of be to come off the bench and fill in at different spots. But we’ll try to get a start for him.”
OHTANI THROWS
Shohei Ohtani threw another bullpen session Saturday, increasing the intensity slightly but still not throwing breaking pitches. Until he incorporates his slider into his throwing sessions, Ohtani won’t advance to the next step of facing hitters in a simulated-game setting.
Saturday’s session lasted 35 pitches and included increased velocity, according to Roberts, though he couldn’t be specific.
“From what I hear, he was ramping it up a little bit more with the velocity,” Roberts said.
“I don’t have the velocities yet – but just from talking to the trainers I think that’s a good sign, that there’s a little bit more intensity going on there.”
The decision on when to start throwing his slider is a collective one, Roberts said.
“I think it’s more Dr. (Neal) ElAttrache talking to our trainer and then to Shohei. I think those three are collectively driving this process,” Roberts said.
UP NEXT
Dodgers (RHP Dustin May, 1-1, 3.95 ERA) at Braves (RHP Bryce Elder, 1-1, 5.33 ERA), Sunday, 4:10 p.m. PT, ESPN, 570 AM
