토스카지노 NC Dinos infielder Park Min-woo, 30, praised San Diego Padres infielder Kim Ha-seong, 27, saying, “He’s really cool, he’s a great player.”
Park applauded Kim’s recent performance before leaving the stadium after the SSG Landers’ game at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on Tuesday was cancelled due to Typhoon Kanun.
Kim Ha-seong started at second base and batted first against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Washington, U.S., on Tuesday morning (10 a.m. KST) and went 1-for-3 with a home run, one walk, three stolen bases and one run scored.
Despite the team’s 1-6 defeat, Kim drew a walk in his first at-bat of the day, then stole his 25th and 26th bases in the top of the first inning, and singled to left-centre in his second at-bat after the first out of the third, extending his hitting streak to 15 games. He also stole his 27th base.
Kim’s batting average for the season is now 2.8-9, up from 2.8-8. He hits and runs well, and his defence has already been recognised as top-class in the major leagues.
Park Min-woo and Kim Ha-seong were the ‘keystone duo’ in the 2019 Premier12 tournament. / OSEN DB
“It’s great,” said Park Min-woo, who played alongside Kim on the international stage as the ‘Keystone Combo’ despite playing for different teams in the KBO. He’s done a great job in the KBO and has become a recognised player in the major leagues. He’s representing Korea. It’s really very cool.”
Kim Ha-seong is an offensive and defensive triple threat. In the KBO, he batted .299 with 133 home runs and 134 stolen bases in 891 games over seven seasons from his debut in 2014 to 2020, the season before he reached the major leagues.
In 2015, his second year as a pro, he hit 19 home runs and stole 22 bases. In 2017, he hit in the triple digits (.302) for the first time. He hit double-digit home runs and stole bases every year. In 2019, he went 3-for-7 with 19 home runs and 33 stolen bases, and in 2020, he peaked as the KBO’s best “offensive and defensive” player, going 3-for-6 with 30 home runs and 23 stolen bases.
He won the Golden Glove for shortstop three years in a row from 2018 to 2020. After an adjustment period in his first season in the majors, where he batted 2-for-2 with six doubles and eight home runs, he seemed to find his groove in his second season, batting 2-for-5 with 11 home runs and 12 doubles.
This season, he’s taken over the No. 1 spot in the order. “Ha Sung-i is a really good mental player. “When you have a bad game, you have to forget about it quickly and think positively, and he does that. I think that’s why he’s doing so well right now,” he said, cheering for Kim’s big league career.