Kim Ha-seong (28, San Diego Padres), who was reborn as the American Major League (MLB) representative, is the best player of the 2023 season ( MVP) is mentioned as a candidate and draws attention. The chances of winning the award are slim, but just by calling Kim Ha-seong’s name, you can get a glimpse of how outstanding his performance this season is.
Kim Ha-seong
On the 9th, MLB.com released the results of the MLB MVP mock voting for the 2023 season in which 48 experts participated. It is a way to vote for players who played an active part in the American League (AL) and National League (NL) from 1st to 5th. The NL 1st place, to which Ha-seong Kim belonged, was taken by Ronald Acuña Jr. (Atlanta Braves) who received 45 first-place votes. Freddie Freeman (3 tickets for first place) ranked second, and Mookie Betts (Los Angeles Dodgers) ranked third.메이저사이트
MLB.com mentioned Ha-seong Kim as one of the voters in the mock vote after introducing it to the 5th place. It is unknown how many votes Kim Ha-seong received, but it is meaningful in itself that he was evaluated by experts as having played an active role in the NL’s ‘Top 5’ this season.
Kim Ha-seong is making a big success with a batting average of 0.288, 15 homers, 41 RBIs and 24 stolen bases until the 9th. His defensive power, which has risen to the highest level in the league since last year, is still the same this season. The win-to-win ratio (WAR) measured by Baseball Reference.com, an American baseball statistics site, is 5.6, which is tied for first place with Acuña Junior in the NL and second overall behind Ohtani Shohei (8.6). Ohtani received the first place vote from all 48 experts in the AL mock poll.
Kim Ha-seong, who tied the Asian record of Japan’s ‘hitting genius’ Ichiro Suzuki with 15 consecutive multi-on-base matches, started as the first batter and second baseman against the Seattle Mariners on the 9th, and failed to extend the record with only 1 hit in 4 at-bats. Still, his 14-game hitting streak continued.
Meanwhile, Ryu Hyun-jin (36, Toronto Blue Jays), who was hit on his right knee by a batted ball in a game against the Cleveland Guardians on the 8th, is expected to pitch in the home game against the Chicago Cubs on the 14th after receiving a negative X-ray test.