PHOENIX — Could Hyeseong Kim start the season in the minor leagues?
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts took the long route to get to his answer Tuesday.
When asked about the team’s new South Korean infielder, and exactly how he will fit into the club’s plans come opening day, Roberts acknowledged that there is still a “question mark” with Kim’s bat. He noted that the 26-year-old utility man was still adjusting to major-league competition. He explained how Dodgers coaches are continuing to guide him through a series of swing changes.
For a few moments, Roberts then lauded Kim, praising the former Gold Glove-winning Korean Baseball Organization star for his decision to “bet on himself to come here and to compete.”
But, finally, Roberts conceded exactly how stiff Kim’s competition for an opening-day roster spot remains — confirming that, yes, Kim could start the season in the minor leagues, though a final decision remains several weeks away.
“Right now, he’s in a competition to earn a job with us,” Roberts said. “So I would say that’s still all in play, and we don’t need to make a decision right now.”
Two months ago, this would have qualified as surprising news.
In early January, the Dodgers landed Kim on a three-year, $12.5-million contract with a two-year club option. Though that didn’t qualify as one of the team’s bigger financial commitments during its nearly half-billion-dollar offseason spending spree, the signing nonetheless marked a serious long-term investment; so much so that the Dodgers traded starting second baseman Gavin Lux three days later to seemingly clear the way for Kim at second base.
There were questions about Kim’s bat then. Though he was a .304 career hitter in the KBO, he had only 37 home runs in 953 games. Though scouts liked his contact ability, defensive versatility and lightning-quick speed (Kim had 211 career steals in the KBO), his lack of power was a primary concern when he was posted for MLB clubs to sign.
The Dodgers were undeterred. They looked at Kim — a 5-foot-10 ball of muscle with the lowest body fat percentage in this year’s spring camp — and saw the potential for more pop. With the right swing changes, they hoped, the slick-gloved fielder could also provide production at the plate.
“He already has really good bat-to-ball [skills], which is a good foundation, obviously,” general manager Brandon Gomes said. “And then being able to impact the ball a little bit more and ride out some off-speed pitches in a better way, there’s definitely some pieces there that we feel like we can address to tap into the upside.”
Three weeks into camp, however, such improvements remain very much a work in progress.
During live batting practice sessions against the Dodgers’ talented pitching staff, Kim has often looked overmatched at the plate, struggling to adjust to a steep jump in velocity (MLB pitchers throw their fastball, on average, some 5 mph harder than those in the KBO) and the flurry of wicked breaking pitches.
In his first four Cactus League games, Kim’s results at the plate have remained bleak: one infield single in nine at-bats, two walks, four strikeouts and only one ball hit harder than 95 mph (the threshold for hard-hit contact under MLB’s Statcast analytics system).
Like Roberts, Gomes also recently left open the possibility of starting Kim in the minors.
“I just think there’s so much unknown between now and opening day, seeing how the roster plays out and how he looks,” Gomes said last week, taking a noncommittal stance when asked about Kim’s opening day roster outlook. “But we’re excited with what he’s brought to the table. The energy, the defense has been really impressive. And then the work ethic.”
Kim has received rave reviews overall this spring.
Teammate Miguel Rojas called him a Gold Glove-caliber defender at second base, impressed with Kim’s natural athleticism and clean fundamentals. Coaches have noted Kim’s receptiveness to working at other positions, too, taking drills this camp at shortstop (where he also had extensive experience in the KBO) and center field (a position he never played professionally in South Korea).
Most of all, the Dodgers have appreciated Kim’s buy-in at the plate, where he has embraced “significant adjustments” to his bat path and swing mechanics, as Roberts described them, in the hopes of making “this transition easier and sustainable.”
“He’s been really impressive in that sense,” echoed hitting coach Aaron Bates. “He has the ingredients to be great.”
What has become clear of late, though, is that it might take some time for Kim to become a finished product offensively. And in the meantime, the Dodgers will have to decide whether his future development is better suited by trial and error in the big leagues, or a lower-stakes stint against minor-league pitching.
“He’s just got to have more game repetitions,” Roberts said. “But the buy-in has been outstanding.”
There are other factors that will influence the Dodgers’ opening day roster decisions. Currently, there appear to be four players battling for the last two position player slots: Kim and outfielders Chris Taylor, Andy Pages and James Outman.
Though Taylor is coming off a woeful 2024 season and has gotten off to his own sluggish start this spring, he still seems like a long shot to be cut for now, given his track record with the Dodgers as well as the $17 million still owed on his contract (which expires at the end of this season).
Pages, meanwhile, is trying to build off an auspicious rookie season in which he hit .248 with 13 home runs, 23 doubles and 46 RBIs. A return to the minors, even temporarily, might only slow his development curve.
Much, of course, can change between now and the Dodgers’ domestic home opener in late March, when they will have to trim their roster down to 26 players (the team can take a larger traveling party to its season-opening games in Tokyo). Even one injury elsewhere on the roster could be enough to cement Kim’s place in the big leagues.
But for now, his roster status remains in question, with the Dodgers seemingly open to starting him in the minors this year if they think it will aid his long-term outlook — and help him continue to improve his swing.
“We’ll let the spring play out,” Gomes said, “and see how those things progress.”