Atlanta's Promised Land? After releasing nonsense, Atlanta Joins Kim Ha-sung, if he fails to prove the value of the rest of the season, he can see the ending of the release again

Sep 03, 2025

You have to prove your skills and health.

Kim Ha-sung (30) is standing in the biggest crisis of his career. He was released just seven months after signing an FA contract with the Tampa Bay Rays in February. Tampa Bay signed a two-year, $29 million contract in anticipation of the revival of Kim Ha-sung, who was rehabilitating after shoulder surgery.

However, he admitted that he made the wrong decision seven months after the contract and cut Kim Ha-sung on the 2nd (Korea time).

Then, the Atlanta Braves recruited Kim Ha-sung as if they had been waiting. The condition is to pay a total of $18 million (about 25.1 billion won), including the remaining annual salary of 2 million dollars this season and the contract annual salary of 16 million dollars next season. For Atlanta, one of the big market clubs, $18 million isn't too much of a burden.

Atlanta also has weak shortstop resources. It is a team that absolutely needs a shortstop with some offensive power. For this reason, Atlanta also recruited Kim Ha-sung as if he were buying a lottery ticket. Although his batting skills are poor right now and he is sick here and there, it is expected that the Gold Glove winner of the 2023 National League Utility Division will return soon.

For this background, some view Atlanta as if it would be a `promised land' for Kim Ha-sung. But this is a very naive idea.

In a major league led by harsh business logic, there can be no such thing as 'Land of Promises' from the beginning. It is a thoroughly weak-minded world in which players' positions are determined solely based on their skills and values. If you show good skills, you get astronomical money and long-term contracts, but if you don't, you're in a world where you throw it away relentlessly.

Therefore, even Kim Ha-sung cannot be relieved. It is unknown when Atlanta's position will change coldly again. Therefore, he must prove his skills through the remaining games of the 2025 season. If Kim Ha-sung enters the injured list (IL) again for the rest of this year or struggles with a batting average in the early 20s like now, he may face the fate of re-release or trade after the end of the season.

This is related to the most important reason why Atlanta brought in Kim Ha-sung, who was released from Tampa Bay. Atlanta's stable defense is not the only thing it expects from Kim Ha-sung. The most important value expected is 'hit'.

This is because the shortstop position was the hole in Atlanta's offense this year. Orlando Arcia, who was the main shortstop at the beginning of the season, was released after hitting a batting average of 0.194. Nick Allen, who later became the main player, was also not very good in terms of offense. He played in 127 games and had a batting average of only 0.221 (80 hits in 361 times at bat). He has 21 RBIs, 31 runs, eight steals, and an OPS of 0.534 without even hitting a home run. Starting with Allen, Atlanta shortstop's total OPS this season is 0.524, the last among all 30 clubs.

In the end, Atlanta's demands from Kim Ha-sung are more aggressive contributions than defense. Atlanta wants 'Kim Ha-sung before the injury' as Tampa Bay did earlier this year.

But so far, Kim Ha-sung has not been able to show his pre-injury appearance. In particular, the slump in terms of hitting is serious. He has only played 24 games in Tampa Bay, going on the IL twice in about two months since returning in early July. In the meantime, his batting average was only 0.214 (18 hits in 84 at-bats).

This is completely contrary to Atlanta's expectations. Atlanta wants Kim Ha-sung to play at least like he did in 2023. It seems that he had a double-digit home run with a batting average of 260 and a slugging percentage in the mid-70s. That's what you're looking for, and you've made a $18 million bet. For Kim Ha-sung, it is like having a homework to meet this expectation.

In the end, if he shows good batting in Atlanta for the rest of this year, Kim Ha-sung can be in the spotlight again as the main shortstop in the 2026 season.

However, if Atlanta still struggles with poor physicality due to poor batting in the rest of the season, Atlanta is likely to choose to stop accompanying Kim Ha-sung in the stove league. In other words, $2 million has already been abandoned, and there is a high possibility that he will choose to preserve even $16 million. This is because this method makes sense from a business perspective.

Therefore, Kim Ha-sung must newly prove the value of Jisan in the rest of the season.

Kim Ha-sung was listed in the starting lineup as sixth shortstop against the Chicago Cubs, his first game since moving to Atlanta. Photo = Atlanta Braves Club X Account

As soon as Kim Ha-sung wore his Atlanta uniform, he got a chance to start shortstop. He was listed in the starting lineup as sixth shortstop in Game 2 of the three away games against the Chicago Cubs at 8:40 a.m. on the 3rd at Wrigley Field. This game could be the touchstone for the rest of the season. You have to play well from here first. If he creaks from the first game, Kim Ha-sung's MLB career itself may be over.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.