PS, please take me with you LAD Kim Hye-sung's earnest aspiration, the first home run in 120 days, broke out. One home run in four at-bats for the final start of the season

Sep 29, 2025

'Isn't this good enough for the postseason?'

LA Dodgers utility player Kim Hye-sung ended his first major league season. In the final regular league game held at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Washington, the U.S. on the 29th (Korea time), he came out as the eighth second baseman and recorded one hit (one home run) and two RBIs in four times at bat. That ended Kim's first MLB regular season.

But Kim Hye-sung wants to play baseball longer. The intense desire to step on the postseason stage with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates eventually erupted with the first home run in 120 days. It was as if Kim Hye-sung was sending a message to director Dave Roberts, asking him to take her to the autumn party.

Roberts has rarely given Kim Hye-sung a chance to play since he returned from a left shoulder mucosal cystitis injury in early September. Kim Hye-sung revealed a completely different way to use it from before the injury. Kim Hye-sung was excluded from the starting lineup because he couldn't properly target the left-handed pitcher's outer breaking ball, and only occasionally used it as a pinch runner and logarithmic ratio.

Has Roberts' evaluation criteria for Kim Hye-sung changed from the previous one. I can't necessarily conclude that it is. It can be said that the last-minute ranking competition of the season, which was urgently returned, also had a big impact. The Los Angeles Dodgers have been dominating the top spot in the National League West for quite some time, making them expect an easy district win.

However, there was a time when the bullpen continued to collapse and the district championship was in jeopardy. Throughout September, the Dodgers literally continued 'blood war'. It was to confirm the district championship. As the flow of tight games continued, there was no place to use Kim Hye-sung.

However, after confirming the district championship, Roberts gave Kim Hye-sung a chance again.

As soon as Kim Hye-sung returned as a starter in the last regular season game, he sent a strong message to Roberts with a cheerful final two-run shot.

Kim Hye-sung, who entered the batter's box for the first time in the top of the second inning with two outs and a runner on the first base, hit a two-run home run against Seattle starter Bryce Miller. Miller pushed a four-seam fastball (about 150 kilometers per hour) on the third pitch and crossed the right-center fence. Timing and swing speed worked very ideally. With a tremendous hard heat speed of 163.5km, the flying distance was as high as 124.7m. The Dodgers won 6-1, and Kim Hye-sung's two-run shot became the winning shot on the day.

As a result, Kim Hye-sung achieved his third home run of the season in 120 days since the game against the New York Yankees on June 1. Kim Hye-sung later failed to add a hit in the three at-bats, ending the season's final game with one hit (one home run) and two RBIs in four at-bats.

Kim Hye-sung's performance in the MLB's first season resulted in a batting average of 0.280 (45 hits in 161 at-bats) with three home runs, 17 RBIs, and 13 steals with an OPS of 0.699 in 71 games.

Meanwhile, Shohei Ohtani, who came out as the first designated hitter, hit his 55th home run of the season in the top of the seventh inning, breaking the most home runs (54) in a season for Los Angeles Dodgers players last season.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.