LA Dodgers Shohei Ohtani (31) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (27) celebrated Kim Hye-sung (26)'s major league debut.
Kim Hye-sung replaced the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park in Atlanta, Georgia on the 4th (Korea Standard Time).
In the bottom of the ninth inning when the Dodgers was leading 10-3, Kim took the mound as a defense against left fielder Michael Confoto for the first time. Second baseman Kim played defense for one inning, but had no chance to defend. Dodgers ended the game with a victory without losing a point in the ninth inning.
Kim Hye-sung played as a star player in Korea with a batting average of 343 games in 953 games in the KBO league, hitting .344 (3,043 hits in 3,433 times at bat), 37 homers, 386 RBIs, 591 runs, 211 steals, and OPS.767. After the end of last season, he tried to advance to the Major League through posting and succeeded in signing a three-plus-year, two-year maximum contract of $22 million (about 30.9 billion won) with the Dodgers.
However, Kim Hye-sung only hit .27 (six hits in 29 at-bats) in 15 exhibition games with one homer, three RBIs, six runs and two steals with an OPS of .613, and eventually started the season with Triple-A in the Minor League, not the Major League. Kim Hye-sung, who aimed for a call-up opportunity by adjusting his batting average in the minor leagues, hit 252 (29 hits in 115 at-bats) in 28 games with five home runs, 19 RBIs, 22 runs, and 13 steals with an OPS of .798.
Kim, who was playing in the Minor League, was called to the Big League due to Tommy Edman's injury. He played in the game as a leaguer, becoming the 28th Korean Leaguer in the history of the game. From Park Chan-ho in 1994 to Lee Jung-hoo (San Francisco Giants) last year, 27 Korean players have been on the big league stage.
"Hye-sung is heading to the big leagues. Infielder Kim Hye-sung means "comet" in Korean. The Dodgers called Kim Hye-sung from Triple-A Oklahoma City to the Dodgers ahead of Saturday's game against the Braves," the official Major League media MLB.com said, covering the news of Kim's call-up to the Major League.
Kim Hye-sung said, "I was really surprised (by the call-up). Coach Triple-A (Scott Hannesi) informed me that I would go to The Show after the game on Friday night. I came here with a happy heart. I'm really excited," he said. "I'm really comfortable and confident at the moment. The swing change is not that big. "We prepared really hard. There's still a lot of room to get better, but it's a lot better compared to the first day," he added.
Ohtani, the biggest star of the Dodgers, also congratulated Kim on her MLB debut. Right after the game, Ohtani shared a video of Kim's debut on his Instagram, saying, "Welcome to the show, Kim!." Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who made his big league debut with the Dodgers last year and is having his best season this year, also shared the same video as Ohtani and posted, "Hye-sung!!"
Kim, who made her 안전놀이터 Major League debut in celebration of her teammates, is now challenging other goals including her first major league start and first hit. Fans are looking forward to seeing if Kim will be able to deliver another good news.