Kim Hye-sung 25.2% → 43.5% Shocking Strikeout Soars, I wondered why, but I kept swinging Roberts with a painful shoulder

Jul 28, 2025

Kim Hye-sung 25.2% → 43.5% Shocking Strikeout Soars, I wondered why, but I kept swinging Roberts with a painful shoulder
It has been confirmed that Kim Hye-sung recently played with shoulder pain. ImagesYonhap News



Kim Hye-sung 25.2% → 43.5% Shocking Strikeout Soars, I wondered why, but I kept swinging Roberts with a painful shoulder
Kim Hye-sung is scheduled to start an away game in Cincinnati on the 29th (Korea time). AFP Yonhap News
The reason why Kim Hye-sung of the LA Dodgers has recently struck out a lot has been revealed. It was because of a shoulder injury.

Coach Dave Roberts said in an interview with local media The Athletic on the 28th (Korea time), `I don't think I could have swung properly because my shoulder hurt. I think that's why there have been more swings and misses than before, he said.

According to Roberts, Kim Hye-sung has played with shoulder pain for the last five to six days. This is a decisive reason for the sluggish performance in the second half of the year.




Kim Hye-sung played as a pinch runner in the last of three consecutive away games against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. The fact that Boston was excluded from the starting lineup even though he was a right-handed Walker Buehler after starting for five consecutive games from the Minnesota Twins on the 22nd to the Boston Red Sox on the 27th is that his shoulder condition eventually affected him.

Kim Hye-sung 25.2% → 43.5% Shocking Strikeout Soars, I wondered why, but I kept swinging Roberts with a painful shoulder
Kim Hye-sung went out as a runner at second base in the eighth inning against Boston on the 28th (Korea time), and is out without successful return to base when Teoscar Hernandez's straight out to second base. EPA Yonhap News
Nevertheless, Roberts replaced second baseman Miguel Rojas with Kim Hye-sung in the top of the eighth inning with one out and runners on first and second bases, trailing 3-4. However, when Teoscar Hernandez was out with a straight hit to the second baseman, Kim Hye-sung was out without returning to the base and was doubled. At first, he was declared safe and was overturned to out through the challenge. Kim Hye-sung did headfirst sliding. At this level, it is possible to interpret that the shoulder condition has improved, but there was no need to overdo it.

First of all, he is not on the injured list (IL). Accordingly, Kim Hye-sung will start normally in the first of three consecutive away games against the Cincinnati Reds on the 29th. The Cincinnati starter is expected to be right-hander Chase Burns.




Roberts said, `We will keep an eye on Kim Ha-sung's shoulders, but we plan to include him in the lineup tomorrow.'

Kim Hye-sung is sluggish with a batting average of 0.174 (4 hits in 23 at-bats) and an OPS of 0.348 in nine games in the second half. In 23 at-bats, he struck out 10 and walked none. In contrast to his batting average of 0.339 (38 hits in 112 at-bats) and OPS of 0.842 in the first half. In particular, he struck out six consecutive at-bats from the game against Minnesota on the 24th to the game against Boston on the 25th.

The strikeout rate nearly doubled from 25.2% in the first half to 43.5% in the second half alone. As Roberts pointed out, there have been more swings and misses.








This article was translated by Naver AI translator.