Hyesung, it's your turn. LAD Kim Hye-sung starts again in four days, and Houston is a freshman in MLB. Multi-hit expectations up

Jul 07, 2025

Hyesung, it's your turn. LAD Kim Hye-sung starts again in four days, and Houston is a freshman in MLB. Multi-hit expectations up



Hyesung, it's your turn. LAD Kim Hye-sung starts again in four days, and Houston is a freshman in MLB. Multi-hit expectations up
The first multi-hit chance of July came back to Kim Hye-sung of the LA Dodgers. He is back in the starting lineup after four days, and the opposing starter is a rookie who debuted this year.

Kim Hye-sung was again chosen by LA Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.

Kim Hye-sung will start as the sixth second baseman in the 2025 Major League (MLB) Interleague home game against the Houston Astros at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California on the morning of the 7th (Korea time). The Los Angeles Dodgers have slightly slowed down due to their last two consecutive losses. Still, he still maintains the highest winning percentage in the Major League (0.622) and leads the National League West alone. He is eight games ahead of the second-place San Diego Padres.




Still, it is important to get out of a losing streak. Roberts is the type to change the flow with a new lineup in this situation.

Hyesung, it's your turn. LAD Kim Hye-sung starts again in four days, and Houston is a freshman in MLB. Multi-hit expectations up
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Roberts released a lineup of Shohei Ohtani (designated hitter), Mookie Betts (striker), Freddie Freeman (first baseman), Andy Farggs (center fielder), Michael Confoto (left fielder), Kim Hye-sung (second baseman), Miguel Rojas (third baseman), Dalton Rushing (catcher) and Esteury Lewis (right fielder). The Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher is Emmett's second start this year.

Sheehan took the mound as the first starter this year at home against San Diego on June 19 and showed promise by allowing three hits, six strikeouts and one run in four innings. However, he does not have much experience, so he desperately needs help from the batters.




Kim Hye-sung came out in the game with such importance. It can be said that Roberts played a role as a variable that could change the flow of the game.

Kim Hye-sung has appeared in 41 games since the Major League call-up on May 4 and has shown quite good batting skills with a batting average of 0.356 (32 hits in 90 at-bats) with two home runs, 12 RBIs and eight steals with an OPS of 0.902. However, in the last seven games, the batting average has slowed slightly to 0.250 (3 hits in 12 at-bats) due to jagged games. Nevertheless, he is still recognized for his value as a utility man. When the team needs it, it is contributing with a stable defense, both inside and outside. On top of that, it is even producing the effect of 'plus alpha' by hitting. It's not a mainstay, but it must be something like the team's 's salt'.

Hyesung, it's your turn. LAD Kim Hye-sung starts again in four days, and Houston is a freshman in MLB. Multi-hit expectations up
Kim Hye-sung appeared as a substitute in the match against Houston the previous day. In the bottom of the eighth inning, he appeared in a scoring chance with one out and runners on the first and second bases, but he was struck out by opposing pitcher Brian Abreu.




If Kim Hye-sung hit a timely hit as the Dodgers were trailing 4-6, there was a possibility that the game could be changed. Although the result was a strikeout, the fact that he came out as a pinch hitter at such an important opportunity means that he is already trusted by Roberts. Therefore, he entered the starting lineup the day after he missed an important chance.

For Kim Hye-sung, the game on the 7th is an opportunity to aim for the first multi-hit in July. This is because Houston's starter is rookie Ryan Gusto, who made his major league debut this year. Gusto has appeared in 18 games this year, 11 of them as starters. The game against the Dodgers is the 12th starting game.

Hyesung, it's your turn. LAD Kim Hye-sung starts again in four days, and Houston is a freshman in MLB. Multi-hit expectations up
His performance is good with 5 wins and 3 losses, but his ERA is somewhat high at 4.90. WHIP also reaches 1.49. It can be said that he has taken the victory with a lot of help from the batters.

Although Kim Hye-sung is the first pitcher to face, he is not an unfamiliar type. It is a right-handed orthodox style with an average fastball speed of 94.1 miles (about 151 kilometers per hour) and several breaking balls such as two-seam, cutter, slider, curve, and change-up. Typically, it deserves to be seen as the preferred style of the KBO League's first foreign starter.

Kim Hye-sung is also a MLB rookie, but he has accumulated experience in numerous confrontations with these foreign pitchers during the KBO League. If you take the batter's box with the mindset of dealing with such pitchers, you can certainly expect good results.



Reporter Lee Won-man wman@sportschosun.com



This article was translated by Naver AI translator.