What can’t be done…’Irreplaceable’ Kim Ha Sung’s ‘bat’ is crazy too

Ha-Sung Kim, 28, of San Diego, once sported a solid shield, but now he’s got a sharp spear. Kim has transformed himself into an offensive and defensive specialist and is now one of the top honor students in all of Major League Baseball.

On March 3, he started at first base and third base against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado, USA, and had a “multi-hit” game, including a home run. His bat was hot from the first at-bat. Kim led off the top of the first inning with a three-pitch fastball from Colorado left-hander Kyle Freeland that he pulled over the left field fence.

It was his 15th homer of the season, eight games after his last one against Pittsburgh on May 25. It was his fourth leadoff home run of the season. If Kim, who already has 22 stolen bases, adds five more home runs in his remaining 53 games, he will become just the second Korean major leaguer to accomplish the feat, joining Choo Shin-soo (SSG), who joined the 20-homer, 20-steal club three times (2009-2010-2013).

After adding an RBI single in the top of the fifth inning, Kim finished the day 3-for-4 with a home run and two walks, driving in one run and scoring three runs in the 11-1 victory. Kim extended his multi-hit streak (two or more hits in a game) to 11 games, dating back to March 23 against Detroit.

Once known for his steady defense, Kim has become an irreplaceable part of the San Diego lineup.

He’s been on fire with the bat in the second half. In his last 14 games over a 15-day span, Kim is batting .435 (20-for-46), good for second in both leagues, including the American League (AL).

In 104 games on the season, Kim has a .284 batting average and .838 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage), and no other player in San Diego has a higher batting average than Kim.

Primarily batting first, Kim is also fourth on the team in home runs and RBI (41). If you expand the scope to the National League (NL), where San Diego is a member, there are only seven players with a better batting average than Kim. In a major league with a strong two-hitter flow this season, Kim is in the top 10 in NL hitting, and at his current pace, a triple-digit batting average is not out of the question.

Kim’s value this season is further illustrated by his Wins Above Replacement (WAR) numbers. WAR is a measure of how many wins a player adds to a team compared to a typical replacement.

According to Baseball Reference, Kim’s WAR is 5.3, tied for second in the majors with Atlanta outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. The only player with a higher WAR is Shohei “Idoryu” Ohtani (7.9-LA Angels). A solid defender, Kim also has the second-best defensive WAR in the majors at 1.9.스포츠토토

MLB.com’s A.J. Cassavelle tweeted on the day of the announcement, “He’s an outstanding leadoff hitter in almost every way.”