SD Kim Ha-seong, first fall Major League baseball… Wildcard Series skids with Mets

Ha-seong Kim of Major League Baseball (MLB) San Diego in the United States will step on the autumn stage for the first time in two seasons of entering the big leagues. He will play in the National League (NL) Wild Card Series (best of 3) starting at Citi Field, New York, USA on the 8th (Korea time).

San Diego qualified for the wild card this year, finishing second in the NL West with an 89-73 loss. As a team, this is the first postseason entry in two years since 2020, when the system was reduced to 60 games per team due to the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19). Given the current 162-game system, this is the first fall baseball since 2006.

The New York Mets in the NL East District against San Diego were tied with Atlanta in the same district with a record of 101-61 this year, but were pushed into the wildcard series by their opponents. Established in 1969, this was the first time San Diego met the Mets on a fall baseball stage. This three-game series will be played down in the home room of the high-seeded Mets.

Kim Ha-seong posted a poor performance against the Mets this season with a 0.211 batting average (four hits in 19 at-bats). That’s less than his season batting average (0.251). Furthermore, Kim Ha-seong showed good speed at the end of the season, batting .280 in the last seven games of the season. Besides, he has already experienced a lot of fall baseball in professional baseball. According to ‘Stats’, a professional baseball statistics site, Kim Ha-seong played a total of 32 games in the postseason alone. His career batting average in the postseason is 0.248.

As the starters in the first game, which was the turning point in the game, Darvish U of San Diego and Max Scherzer of the Mets all appeared. Darvish has a 16-8 record with a 3.10 ERA this year, and Scherzer an 11-5 2.29 record. For Scherzer, Ha-seong Kim was weak with no hits in three at-bats. Overall, the mood predicts Mets dominance. A sports betting site puts the odds for San Diego at +130 and the Mets at -155.

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After the postseason ends, Kim Ha-seong will stand in front of domestic fans as well. He joined the first line-up (6 people) of the ‘MLB World Tour Korea Series’ to be held at Sajik Stadium in Busan and Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 11th and 15th of next month. Haseong Kim, Darin Rough (New York Mets) and Salvador Perez (Kansas City), who played for Samsung in the past, have confirmed their participation. A total of 28 lists are planned.

Choi Ji-man of the American League (AL) Tampa Bay was also invited to the fall baseball game. Tampa Bay will also play the Wild Card Series against Cleveland at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio on the 8th. Tampa Bay’s fourth straight baseball slump.

Correspondent Hong-gu Kang windup@donga.com