The second half of Kim Ha-seong (San Diego) is unusual. His batting average has risen to the top of the major leagues. WAR (Victory Contribution Against Substitutes) rose to a tie for first place in the National League for a while.
On the 3rd (Korean time), Ha-seong Kim started as the first hitter and third baseman in the ‘2023 Major League’ match against the Colorado Rockies held at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado, USA, and recorded 2 hits and 2 walks in 3 at-bats. He even recorded his 15th home run of the season with a leadoff home run in the first inning. His batting average rose from 0.281 to 0.284 and his OPS from 0.822 to 0.838.
Looking at his performance in the second half, he is the best hitter in San Diego. Kim Ha-seong raised his batting average to 0.386 in the second half with hits in 9 consecutive games. His on-base percentage is 0.488 and his slugging percentage is 0.643. The OPS is over 1, which is 1.131. In all four categories, he was in the top 10 in the National League, and even in the major leagues as a whole, his batting average and on-base percentage are in the top 10.메이저놀이터
Even before including 4 on-base, including the 15th home run, Kim Ha-seong was tied for first in the National League Baseball Reference WAR. He had the same 5.3 as Ronald Acuna Jr. (Atlanta). In addition, he further raised the figure by adding two walks to multi-hits, including the 15th home run of the season. It’s not an exaggeration to say that he is an MVP level player.
Acuña, who was tied for first place in WAR with Kim Ha-seong, recorded 3 hits, 1 home run and 1 walk in 4 at-bats against the Angels on the 3rd. Ha-seong Kim also faced Acuña with four on-base hits. In the entire major league, the only player with a higher WAR than Ha-seong Kim and Acuña is Shohei Ohtani (Angels), the “Unicorn.”
Kim Ha-seong has now become a player that cannot be ignored in batting. Through the first half, he had a batting average of 0.258, an on-base percentage of 0.349, and a slugging percentage of 0.411 for a 0.760 OPS. However, after the game on the 3rd, his performance was 0.284 batting average, 0.380 on-base percentage, and 0.458 slugging percentage, with an OPS of 0.838. He became a player of a higher level in all indicators after 19 games. He also escaped from the image of building WAR only on defense.
Ha-sung Kim’s 15th home run of the season came in his first at-bat. It was the fourth leadoff home run of the season, and the leadoff home run in the top of the first inning was the second. He attacked left-handed starter Kyle Freeland’s fastball at 90.5 miles per hour (about 145.6 km) and made a strong batting ball of 103.1 miles (165.9 km). The ball flew 425 feet (129.5 m) and over the fence to his left.
He walked to base in the third inning and contributed an extra run, and in the fifth, he came out as the leadoff batter and hit to left. He added a walk in the ninth after a grounder to second base in the seventh. Ha-seong Kim’s 4 on-base in 1 game is the third after 2 hits and 2 walks against Kansas City on May 18 and 3 hits and 2 walks against Detroit on July 23.
Meanwhile, San Diego defeated Colorado 11-1 and went on a winning streak. Starting with Kim Ha-sung’s home run, Juan Soto, Gary Sanchez, and Fernando Tatis Jr. crossed the fence. Sanchez even hit multiple home runs.
