San Diego Padres infielder Ha Sung Kim, 28안전놀이터, performs a rousing dance routine. He turned heads with his extraordinary performance as he overcame the lingering effects of his injury.
Kim Ha-seong started at shortstop in the eighth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York, on Monday (June 28).
Kim was hit in the left knee by his own foul ball against the Washington Nationals on the 26th and was immediately replaced. He was helped off the field by trainers, causing concern for many fans, but fortunately, an X-ray revealed a bruise with no broken bones.
Kim’s true colors were revealed in his third at-bat. With the game tied 1-1 in the top of the seventh inning, he lined an RBI single off Michael King, who had pitched the most innings of any Yankees bullpen pitcher (27⅔ innings) with a 1.95 ERA.
Kim was perfect on defense.
Kim shined on defense twice. In the bottom of the first inning, he made a fantastic relay play to prevent a run from scoring. With runners on first and third, DJ LeMahieu doubled, and with runners on first and third, Kim made a quick throw home from left fielder Juan Soto to prevent the runners from scoring.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, he picked off leadoff hitter Kainer Palepa’s hit-by-pitch, spun around and made an accurate throw to first base to rob him of a hit. MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball, also praised Kim, saying, “Kim Ha-seong, who returned from injury, made an outstanding performance at shortstop.”
Meanwhile, San Diego lost 2-3 to the Yankees in extra innings, giving up the game-winning hit. The Padres are now 24-28 on the season and are in fourth place in the National League West. The game differential with the first place Los Angeles Dodgers is ‘7.5’.