How bad is it that Kim Hye-sung pushes out 23.6 billion hitters a year? Director's public comments
Aug 25, 2025
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The Los Angeles Dodgers signed a short-term contract with outfielder Confoto for a year and $17 million (about 23.6 billion won) ahead of this season. He made his big league debut with the New York Mets in 2015, and he is a type of hitter who has long hitting power and good pioneering skills. In the 2019 season when he played for the Mets, he hit a personal maximum of 33 home runs.
However, his batting performance this season is below expectations. He has a batting average of 184, nine homers, 28 RBIs and an OPS of 0.608 in 113 games. This year, it is not enough to win the main position in the ultra-luxury corps Dodgers.
There were steadily criticisms of Confoto's sluggishness, but as the ranking fight became fiercer in the second half, the need to replace the main left fielder once again emerged. Last year, he used Teoscar Hernandez in left field and won the World Series.
This year Hernandez is playing in right field, which is a little more familiar to him. There is a way for Hernandez to move back to left field, and the problem is that he, too, has been experiencing a defensive slump all season. The batting performance was also not very good.
Manager Dave Roberts chose Hernandez to move to left field instead of Confoto as the first alternative. Roberts met with reporters on the 24th (Korea time) and said, `It's definitely a good idea. It's a possibility that it's going to happen. "I haven't spoken to Theo yet, but I'm thinking about it.", he admitted.
When domestic and foreign utility Tommy Edman returns from the injured list soon, he can take center field and Andy Pazs can take right field.
And another idea Roberts has publicly mentioned to local reporters is that infielder Kim Hye-sung plays left field. Kim Hye-sung, who is currently playing a rehabilitation game in Triple-A after her injury, is close to returning to the big league.
Roberts said, `When it comes to the possibility of replacing the left-hander, Kim Hye-sung could also be an option", he explained. As if preparing for this, Kim Hye-sung is currently playing in the starting left field in the Triple-A rehabilitation game.
Kim Hye-sung, whose main position is second base, shows stable defense as a shortstop and second baseman, but has also been preparing for outfield defense. In particular, the need for outfield defense has been consistently mentioned since joining the Dodgers. In actual games, he played 16 games as a center fielder and showed stable outfield defense. I haven't been in charge of the corner outfield, but it's not unreasonable because I have experience in the KBO league.
For Kim Hye-sung, who will return after recovering from injury, the image of a utility man who can defend the corner outfield is the key to survival in the big league. Except for Shohei Ohtani and a few other built-ins, it is a prerequisite to keep his position more firmly in the Dodgers, where the lineup is so competitive.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
