Ha-Seong Kim Rise as San Diego’s Most Improved Player of ’23

“Developed into an elite leadoff man”
“Best on the team defensively”

San Diego Padres Kim Ha-seong photo / AFP=Yonhap News

MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball (MLB), named Ha-Seong Kim as the most improved player of the season for the San Diego Padres on the 14th (Korean time).

Through an article titled “One player from each team who took a big step forward in ’23,” MLB.com introduced one player from each of the 30 teams, including Ha-Seong Kim.

MLB.com introduced, “You probably know that Ronald Acuña  Jr. (Atlanta Braves) and Mookie Betts (Los Angeles Dodgers) are staging an epic MVP race. You probably know that Matt Olson (Atlanta) and Freddie Freeman (Dodgers) are chasing behind them.”

They continued, “But guess who entered Wednesday ranked fifth in the NL in Baseball Reference WAR?” and revealed, “It’s Kim.”

According to the WAR rankings calculated by the baseball statistics site Baseball-Reference.com, Betts is ranked 1st in the NL with 8.1 WAR, Acuna Jr. is ranked 2nd with 7.4, Olson is ranked 3rd with 6.5, Freeman is ranked 4th with 6.3, and Ha-Seong Kim is running in 5th place with 5.7.

Ha-Seong Kim once topped the NL WAR rankings.

Ha-Seong Kim is leading the team with outstanding defensive skills and shows remarkable performance in batting and defense.

MLB.com praised, “Although the San Diego team has struggled this season, Ha-Seong Kim has emerged as one of the few outstanding players in the team,” and said, “ranking second in pitches per plate appearance while reaching base at a .358 clip with 35 steals, he has grown into an elite leadoff hitter.”

They also said, “Defensively, the Padres believe there’s no one better,” and said, “Kim has thrived wherever he’s been needed this season — mostly at second, but also at short and third while his teammates have suffered injuries.”

Ha-Seong Kim has played in 141 games this season and achieved outstanding statistics with a batting average of .268, 17 home runs, 58 RBIs, 80 runs scored, and 35 stolen bases.

Despite being mentioned as a trade target until this season, he has confidently developed into the best infielder in MLB with his skills.