Kim Ha-seong (28‧ San Diego) started as second baseman in an away game against Seattle on the 9th (Korean time) and recorded 1 hit and 3 strikeouts in 4 at-bats. It was not a bad performance in that he recorded one hit, but considering Ha-seong Kim’s hot hitting feeling recently, it was enough to feel that something was lacking.
As such, Ha-seong Kim’s on-base ability has been very good lately. Ha-seong Kim recorded two or more bases in 15 consecutive games before the game. He went on base more than once in 15 consecutive games, not even once a day. This is the longest run in Major League Baseball this season. The second-place record is 10 games by Freddy Freeman (LA Dodgers), and the longest currently maintained record is 6 games by Bo Vichet (Toronto).
In these 15 games, Ha-seong Kim achieved outstanding results with a batting average of 0.442 and an on-base percentage of 0.567. Adding 4 homers to this, the OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) reached a whopping 1.259. That was the reason why he felt that the first run was unfulfilling. Meanwhile, in 15 games and 67 at-bats, he struck out just five. So even three strikeouts in one game was awkward.
Kim Ha-seong is a player who does not strike out well this year. Especially recently. Ha-seong Kim’s strikeout rate this year was 20.3% and his walk rate was 12.8%, making the gap between these rates very small. This driving force comes from their ability to tolerate manning. Ha-seong Kim’s swing rate continues to drop from 21.6% in 2021 to 19.1% last year and 18.5% this year, which is due to his ability not to be fooled by manned balls.
In fact, Ha-seong Kim’s chase rate this year (the rate of swinging a bat at a ball outside the zone) is only 19.3%. In addition, the rate of contact with the ball going out of the zone is 70.9%, which is much higher than his career average (67.1%) and the major league average (58.1%) during this period. Conversely, the rate of contact with the ball entering the zone is quite high at 84.1%. As a pitcher, it is difficult to deal with Kim Ha-seong as he makes contact when thrown inside the zone and endures when thrown outside the zone.
The local media paid attention on the 9th because Kim Ha-seong struck out twice on swings on balls that went out of the zone. It is the analysis of the San Diego Union-Tribune, an influential local media, that there were situations that were difficult to see often throughout the season. This is the part that paradoxically shows that Kim Ha-sung’s contact and patience this year are great.
‘San Diego Union-Tribune’ said, ‘Kim Ha-seong (9th) hit a hit in his last at-bat, extending his streak to 14 games and his on-base streak to 17 games.’ Ha-sung Kim struck out three yesterday. The first two were strikeouts swinging outside the zone, and the third ended with a looking strikeout outside the strike zone,’ he explained.토토사이트
Then, ‘Ha-sung Kim’s chase rate this year is 19.2%, which is 11th in the major leagues. And last night was the third game this season with two strikeouts in a chase situation.’ It is only three times in the whole season that he struck out more than once on a ball that went out of the zone.
On this day, Ha-seong Kim struggled against Logan Gilbert’s powerful pitch, and other San Diego teammates did the same. Gilbert struck out as many as 12 in seven innings that day, and Kim Ha-seong contributed three. As explained by the ‘San Diego Union-Tribune’, two were strikeouts with a miss on a ball that fell out of the zone, and one was a strikeout based on the referee’s mistaken looking.
In the first inning, in a situation where he faced 2B-2S, he missed a 90.6 mile slider that fell low on the fifth pitch. Ha-seong Kim responded to the ball that fell on the low side this year with amazing bat control, but the angle was so good. In the third inning, he swung miss on a splitter that fell on the 4th pitch in a 1B-2S situation. Seattle Battery’s pitch selection and location selection were both good.
In any case, Kim Ha-sung’s streak of hits and on-base streak continues. In particular, his 14-game hitting streak is excellent enough to be the 18th overall record in the major leagues this season. The record for longest streak in the league this season is Marcus Simeon (Texas) with 25 games, and Freddy Freeman (LA Dodgers) and Mauricio Dubon (Houston) tied for second with 20 games.
Ha-seong Kim holds the San Diego record. The previous record this year was 11 games, which was being recorded by Xander Bogatz in April, at the beginning of the season, but Kim Ha-seong has already surpassed it. The Asian record is Masataka Yoshida (Boston) with 16 games, and the second record is Shohei Ohtani (LA Angels) with 15 games. There is a possibility that Kim Ha-seong will renew.