Excluding Kim Hye-sung from the starting right-hander, who has 86 rookies batting average, and being hit by foul pitches? Triple-A outfielder on call-up standby

Jun 05, 2025

Excluding Kim Hye-sung from the starting right-hander, who has 86 rookies batting average, and being hit by foul pitches? Triple-A outfielder on call-up standby
LA Dodgers Kim Hye-sung looks sad after being declared strikeout in the seventh inning against the New York Mets on the 3rd (Korea time). AP Yonhap News



Excluding Kim Hye-sung from the starting right-hander, who has 86 rookies batting average, and being hit by foul pitches? Triple-A outfielder on call-up standby
LA Dodgers Kike Hernandez. AP Yonhap News
LA Dodgers' Kim Hye-sung was excluded from the starting lineup even though the opposing starter was right-handed.

The Dodgers excluded Kim Hye-sung in Game 3 of their four-game home series against the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium on the morning of the 5th (Korea time) and used Kike Hernandez as second baseman at No. 9.

Even though Mets starter Griffin Canning is a right-handed pitcher, manager Dave Roberts excluded Kim Hye-sung. There is no good reason to be found.




First of all, Canning pitched in 11 games this season and recorded 5-2 with a 3.23 ERA, 50 strikeouts, 25 walks, WHIP 1.40, and a 0.241 hit rate in 53 innings. He is not an ace pitcher. The average fastball speed is 93.9 miles, and he usually throws sliders and changeups as breaking balls.

He has a batting average of 0.265 against left-handed hitters and 0.219 against right-handed hitters. Anyone can see that he is weak in left-handed hitting.

Excluding Kim Hye-sung from the starting right-hander, who has 86 rookies batting average, and being hit by foul pitches? Triple-A outfielder on call-up standby
New York Mets right-hander Griffin Canning. AP Yonhap News
Hernandez, who started as the starting second baseman on the day, has a batting average of 0.237 (28 hits in 118 at-bats), seven homers, 18 RBIs, 19 runs scored, and an OPS of 0.746. It is better than the left-hander (0.222) with a batting average of 0.247 on the right-hander, but it is not outstanding.




Rather, Hernandez hit four home runs against left-handed pitchers, and his OPS was 0.805, which was stronger than right-handed pitchers (3 home runs, 0.710). Hernandez has gone 4 for 12 in his last 5 games, but this is not enough to beat Kim Hye-sung. That doesn't mean he's strong against Canning. One hit and one walk from four times at bat.

On the other hand, Kim Hye-sung recorded a batting average of 0.404 (21 hits in 52 times at bat), two homers, seven RBIs, 13 points, five steals, and an OPS of 0.994 in 24 games since the big league call-up on the 4th of last month. He hit 0.392 (20 hits in 51 at-bats) against right-handed pitchers and 1.000 (1 hit in 1 at-bats and 1 home run) against left-handed pitchers, so there is no need to consider the left-right type. He ranks first in batting average among 86 rookie hitters this year with five or more at-bats.

The pain may have been left after being hit by his left ankle in the second inning against the Mets on the 4th, but Roberts said ahead of the Mets match that day "Kim Hye-sung is OK." In the end, the reason could be that he bowed his head with two hits and two strikeouts in two at-bats the previous day. However, Kim Hye-sung has shot 6 for 11 in the last 5 games. There doesn't seem to be a problem with the batting condition.




Excluding Kim Hye-sung from the starting right-hander, who has 86 rookies batting average, and being hit by foul pitches? Triple-A outfielder on call-up standby
LA Dodgers Tommy Edman has a bad right ankle. ImagesYonhap News
However, not only Kim Hye-sung but also Tommy Edman was excluded from the starting lineup. Edman played as a pinch hitter for Kim Hye-sung the previous day and was also sluggish with no hits in two at-bats and one strikeout. However, Edman also had seven hits in 19 at-bats and one home run in the last five games.

However, Edman has a bad right ankle. It was also because of his ankle that he was on the injured list (IL) last month. The Dodgers called up Triple-A outfielder Esteury Lewis on the same day. It's a taxi squad. This is in case Edman is listed on the IL.

Andy Pazs stepped up as the Dodgers center fielder on the day. Parx, whose slugging power has increased significantly this season, has been 8 hits in 21 at-bats and 2 home runs in the last 5 games. Michael Confoto, who was used as a left fielder, got a chance to start despite his lackluster performance in seven at-bats in the last three games.



This article was translated by Naver AI translator.