'Big League Challenge' Positive Evaluation toward Kim Hye-sung...U.S. media "Even if you don't succeed right now, you have time to develop."
'Big League Challenge' Positive Evaluation toward Kim Hye-sung...U.S. media "Even if you don't succeed right now, you have time to develop."
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While infielder Kim Hye-sung is trying to advance to the U.S. Major League Baseball (MLB), a positive evaluation of Kim Hye-sung came out in the U.S.
The U.S. media "Just Baseball" introduced all international free agents (free agents) players who need to know this offseason on the 18th (Korea Standard Time), introducing players who can play in the big leagues in 2025 among those who played in the KBO League or the Japanese Professional Baseball (NPB) this year.메이저사이트
The media mentioned Kim Hye-sung along with Roki Sasaki, Tomoyuki Sugano (Baltimore Orioles), Shinnosuke Ogasawara, Koyo Aoyagi, Kyle Hart, Aaron Wilkerson, and Socrates Brito.
Just Baseball introduced Kim Hye-sung, saying, "Kim Hye-sung is the most talented player after Sasaki this offseason," adding, "He is older and more experienced than Sasaki, and he was a top position player and the best player in the KBO league."
"Kim Hye-sung, who was a shortstop and became a second baseman, has excellent baserunning ability and is a contact-type batter," he said. "This season, he entered the top 10 in this category with 30 steals in the KBO League, and posted a batting average of 0.326, which is higher than the league's batting average of 0.277. He also posted a batting average of over 300 and 25 stolen bases every year for the last four consecutive seasons."
Kim Hye-sung joined the Nexen (current Kiwoom) Heroes as the seventh-ranked player in the second round in 2017, and has recorded a batting average of 0.304 37 homers, 386 RBIs and 211 steals in 3,433 times at bat in 953 games in the first division so far this year. He has posted a batting average of 0.326 with 11 homers, 75 RBIs, 90 runs and 30 steals in his OPS of 0.841 this season.
Kim Hye-sung was recognized for her value by winning the Golden Glove for four consecutive years from 2021 (the shortstop category) and 2022 to 2024 (the second baseman category). In addition, she showed off her presence on the international stage by participating in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (to be held in 2021), last year's World Baseball Classic (WBC), the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games (to be held in 2023), and the Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC).
With the end of the 2024 season, Kim Hye-sung's big league challenge has also accelerated. Kiwoom officially requested the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) to announce the posting of Kim Hye-sung on the morning of the 4th. The next day, KBO announced, "I was informed by the MLB secretariat that it had announced its intention to post Kim Hye-sung to 30 MLB clubs as of December 4 (U.S. Eastern Time).
Two weeks have passed since the start of the posting, and Kim Hye-sung's destination has not been decided yet. However, the outlook is not bad. Kim Hye-sung has been connected to teams that need to reinforce infielders, including the Seattle Mariners. The U.S. baseball magazine "Baseball America" said on the 14th, "Kim Hye-sung makes a simple swing and moves quickly. He is a player with pioneering skills and contact skills, and he consistently produces hitters. He is the type of batter who is difficult to hit home runs, but he makes strong hits."
There are concerns, too. "Kim Hye-sung has a lot in common with his former teammate, Kim Ha-sung," Just Baseball said. "Kim Hye-sung is not as good as his former teammate. He is not as valuable as Kim Ha-sung as a defender. While Kim Ha-sung showed fairly good power in the KBO League, Kim Hye-sung has never showed off his power in Korea. Some evaluators said, "I wonder if Kim Hye-sung has the power to survive against big league pitchers."
However, Just Baseball said, "It is very difficult to predict how well a batter's skill will be converted from KBO to MLB," adding, "Kim Hye-sung is only 26 years old in the 2025 season. Even if he does not succeed at bat right away, he has some time to improve. His defense and baserunning ability provide him with a solid foundation."
"Kim Hye-sung may not be able to sign a contract with the guaranteed amount of money Kim Ha-sung received ahead of the 2021 season, but he will sign a multi-year big league contract," he added.
The deadline for Kim's negotiations is 7 a.m. on January 4 next year. It remains to be seen from which team Kim Hye-sung, who is currently working on her schedule while conducting training at a training site set up by her agency, will be called.