"Awesome Kim's Clock Goes Back MLB's Official Comeback on the 4th of Tampa Bay's Kim Ha-sung." Standby for the game against Minnesota on the 5th
Jul 04, 2025
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Kim Ha-sung, who patiently endured shoulder injuries, surgery, club transfers, and rehabilitation, has finally been included in the major league entry.
The Tampa Bay club included Kim Ha-sung, who was on the injured list on the 60th as of the 4th (Korea Standard Time), the day of rest, on the major league roster. Tampa Bay, which will play 10 consecutive away games from the Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, and Boston Red Sox starting on the 5th, threw a game plan to lead the district at the end of the first half. In other words, Kim Ha-sung is the secret card.
With this, Kim Ha-sung will play an emotional return match for the first time in almost a year. If he plays in an away game against Minnesota at Target Field in Minnesota on the 5th, he will return to the Major League for the first time in 320 days.
Kim Ha-sung last went into long rehabilitation on August 19 last year when he was a member of the San Diego Padres. It was a game against the Colorado Rockies at the time, and Kim Ha-sung was out for the season after injuring his shoulder while playing base running.
Afterwards, Kim Ha-sung went into rehabilitation after undergoing surgery. In the meantime, he gave up the option to stay in San Diego and declared an FA in a surprise move and came to the market. It was pointed out that it was a reckless choice given the condition of rehabilitation due to shoulder surgery.
In fact, Kim Ha-sung's stock price peaked when he won the Gold Glove in the utility division of the National League (NL) in the 2023 season. Prior to the injury, he was expected to sign a contract worth a total of $100 million (about 136.4 billion won) if he came out as an FA. However, the value of the evaluation plunged due to shoulder injuries and surgery.
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Kim Ha-sung tried to make his comeback as soon as possible in the new team. But the rehabilitation process has never been easy. This is due to overlapping hamstring injuries.
Kim Ha-sung, who started his rehabilitation game schedule with Triple-A Durham Bulls (under Tampa Bay) for the first time on May 27, suffered pain in his hamstring at the time of 12 games. On June 14, MLB.COM suspended Kim Ha-sung's rehabilitation schedule due to pain in his right hamstring. After a five-day break, he will go back to his rehabilitation schedule,' he reported.
In the end, Kim Ha-sung entered the break, and he was only able to return to the rehabilitation game on the 21st. Since then, he has played a total of 20 rehabilitation games until the game against the Memphis Redbirds (under the St. Louis Cardinals) on June 30. Then on July 2, he took 'Last College Scholastic Ability Test'.
Kim Ha-sung, who started as the second shortstop in an away game against Norfolk Ties (under Baltimore), proved that he was ready to return to the big leagues by recording two hits, one RBI, one stolen base and one strikeout in five at-bats. His performance in 21 rehabilitation games is not a remarkable performance with a batting average of 0.208 (15 hits in 72 at-bats) and six RBIs and 11 runs scored in OPS of 0.602. However, it certainly proved that his physical condition was back to normal.
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This is because Tampa Bay is at the center of a breathless lead race. As of the morning of the 4th, Tampa Bay ranks third in the American League East. However, he was only 0.5 games behind the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays (48-39), who tied for first in the district. It is a gap that can be reversed sufficiently. Tampa Bay is trying to put Kim Ha-sung in the 10 consecutive away games.
In particular, he is expected to play in some form against Minnesota on the 5th. He may not be a starting shortstop, but may appear as a major defense or pinch hitter in the second half of the game. It's because I came back to the big league after almost a year. However, if Kim Ha-sung shows a healthy appearance, he is expected to gradually secure the position of the main shortstop. This is because the existing shortstop's batting performance is not very good.
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In the end, what Tampa Bay wants from Kim Ha-sung is clear. He wants to play on the offensive side rather than the defensive contribution. Of course, defense should be supported to some extent. To check this possibility, he made them play a long rehabilitation game.
In that sense, Kim Ha-sung needs to show a much better batting sense from the beginning than in the rehabilitation game. That way, you can live yourself and the team will be revived. Attention is focusing on whether Kim Ha-sung will play the Joker role in Tampa Bay's global lead fight.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
