Dodgers-Padres Season Opener Is A Triumphant Homecoming For Korean Star Kim – News18

SEOUL, South Korea: Shohei Ohtani has obtained essentially the most consideration as his Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres put together to launch the Major League Baseball season with the primary common season video games in South Korea.

But the 2-sport sequence beginning on Wednesday is also a triumphant homecoming for Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim, coming off a dominant season and returning to the Gocheok Sky Dome.

Kim performed for the Kiwoom Heroes for seven seasons earlier than signing with San Diego in 2020. He performed down questions on being overshadowed by Ohtani, the Dodgers’ newly signed Japanese star, and stated his focus was serving to his crew get off to a optimistic begin towards division rivals.

“When an MVP-level player arrives at a team, of course the attention is going to go that way. Our team has lots of good players, too, and I think Korean fans will just love the fact that Major League Baseball is being played in Seoul,” Kim stated Tuesday after a exercise on the stadium.

“The real games start tomorrow, so I am focused on keeping myself in good condition. I worked hard this year to prepare, and I need to perform well.”

Kim hit .260 with 17 homers, 60 RBIs and 38 steals whereas establishing himself final season as probably the greatest National League infielders on protection. He received his first Gold Glove as a utilityman, the primary time an infielder from east Asia received the award.

Despite a roster constructed with years of heavy spending, the Padres completed 82-20 and third within the NL West behind the Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks, lacking the playoffs.

Since the dying of controlling proprietor Peter Seidler in November, the entrance workplace traded star outfielder Juan Soto to the New York Yankees and kept away from spending large on free brokers. Former workers ace Blake Snell, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, has a pending cope with the division rival San Francisco Giants.

Kim appears to be getting into a much bigger function. He began 98 video games at second base final season, 29 at third and 16 at shortstop, Manager Mike Shildt is making an attempt him because the common shortstop whereas shifting Xander Bogaerts to second base.

During a voluntary exercise on Tuesday, Kim spent a lot of the time fielding balls from shortstop and practising double-play strikes, drawing occasional cheers from teammates after fielding groundballs deep within the gap and firing precisely to first.

“Bogaerts is such a good player, so if I do good, our chemistry will get better,” Kim stated. “We see each other more than our families and we are a tight bunch. Our players have worked hard, so I think we will definitely have a better record than last year. If we continue to fight, we will push ourselves closer to a championship.”

Kim has regarded sharp in observe video games towards South Korean skilled gamers this week, hitting two residence runs towards the reigning KBO champions LG Twins on Monday off pitchers he had confronted for years.

Ohtani, who went 0 for five in two exhibition video games towards Korean opponents in Seoul, didn’t present up on the sphere for an optionally available exercise on Tuesday. Mookie Betts fielded batted balls from shortstop, the place he’s set to start out this season after making his first 16 appearances there final 12 months.

Tyler Glasnow, the Dodgers’ opening-day starter, threw lengthy tosses from the outfield. Nearby, Game 2 starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto, one other Japanese star Los Angeles signed within the offseason, went via his uncommon coaching routines, together with bounding rubber balls off the outfield wall and throwing small javelins.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is printed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)