Reporter Kim Dong-yoon of Star News | 2023.05.30 06:11
The more Kim Ha-seong (28) shines, the more miserable his team, the San Diego Padres, will be. Although it is the third largest team in terms of overall salary in the Premier League (ML) with an annual salary of 246.4 million dollars (about 327.2 billion won), it is Kim Ha-seong with 7 million dollars ( approximately 9.3 million). billion earned) who shows the most efficient performance. On the 29th (Korea time), ESPN, an American media outlet, entered the mid-season review of the 2023 major league season with four major league experts (Bradford Doolittle, Lee Joon, Buster Olney, and David Schoenfield) on the occasion of Day Memorial (the American concept of Memorial Day). Before this season, he made a series of mega-deals, including an 11-year, $280 million (approx. 371.8 billion earned) free agent contract with Zander Bogatz and an 11-year, $350 million contract extension (approx. 464.8 billion earned ‘to win) with Manny Machado San Diego was still a hot potato.
San Diego, considered a strong contender for the World Series, is currently in 4th place in the National League (NL) West Division with 24 wins and 29 losses after 53 games played. They are 7.5 games behind the LA Dodgers, who are in 1st place in the area, and 3 games behind 3rd place San Francisco in the wild card race. Even in the prediction of six teams in the National League to advance to the postseason, doubt was the mainstream for San Diego. “I’m disappointed with the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego, and I’m not sure they can turn things around,” Schoenfield said.
The stagnation of other lines, which seemed strong, is the main reason for such a fall. From genius hitter Juan Soto to 400 billion shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., to Machado-Bogatz-Jake Cronenworth, who were evaluated as the strongest infielders, the sides are great, but there is no substance. San Diego currently ranks 29th among 30 major league teams in batting average (0.221), tied for 12th in home runs (63), 21st in on-base percentage (0.315), tied for 24th in the slugging percentage (0.385), and the hitter’s bWAR (baseball reference win vs. replacement) Contribution) ranked 9th (7.8), below expectations.
Because of that, San Diego was unanimously chosen as the most disappointing team of the season by all four major league experts. The response of experts was also lamentation. “Personally, before the season, I thought San Diego was an overrated team, but no one would have thought they would be this equal and not even interesting. So far, not I think they’re a team that’s going to make it to the postseason,” said Schoenfield. Olney, who predicted San Diego as a World Series champion, lamented that the 2011 Boston Red Sox, who looked as a monster team on paper but never made the postseason, come to think of it he did.
Ha-sung Kim, who displays an insane presence on defense, puts San Diego’s high-paid players to shame. This season, Kim Ha-sung’s salary position is only 11th within the team. However, at the end of the game on the 29th, the No. 1 bWAR in the San Diego team is Kim Ha-seong with 2.1.
This season, Kim Ha-sung had a 0.242 batting average in 49 games, 5 homers, 17 RBI, and 7 stolen bases, an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.712, and an adjusted OPS of 100, which is just league average. However, defensively, he alternates between shortstop and third baseman, but is one-stop with the overall dWAR (defensive WAR) in the big leagues (1.4). The existence of Kim Ha-seong, who ranked first in the team with WAR accumulated mainly on defense, became proof of the low level of offensive power of those who hit San Diego.
“It’s hard to pick a team other than San Diego as the most disappointing team this season,” Lee said. “But I couldn’t. I would like to rate Kim Ha-seong highly, but the fact that he is currently in first place in terms of contribution on the San Diego team shows how much the rest of the hitters have failed to expectations,” he lamented.
[저작권자 @머니투데이, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]
