This story was excerpted from Sonja Chen’s Dodgers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
Once he got on base, Hyeseong Kim wasted no time in swiping another.
In his first Cactus League game since returning from the World Baseball Classic, Kim showed the Dodgers that the minor injury he sustained to his left hand last week is behind him. He appeared to jam a finger while stealing second base against Team Chinese Taipei in Pool C play, which caused him to miss a game before returning to Korea's lineup for its quarterfinal game.
One week later, Kim is no worse for wear, having tested the hand by sliding safely into second without incident in Sunday's 14-8 win over the Cubs at Sloan Park.
“My finger got bent a little bit sliding into second base in one of the games, but now it’s all healed," Kim said through interpreter Dean Kim after going 1-for-4 with a single. "It's fine now.”
After the Dominican Republic handily defeated Korea in the WBC quarterfinals, Kim is back to fighting for an Opening Day roster spot with the Dodgers. In less than a week, he traversed three time zones, going from Tokyo for Pool C play to Miami for the quarterfinal game before returning to Arizona. He quickly got back into Cactus League action, although he's still adjusting to his current whereabouts.
“It's my bedtime," Kim said at around 3 p.m. local time. "Still a little jet-lagged.”
As much as the past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind, this coming week will be important for Kim.
Kim has hit well at Spring Training, going 7-for-17 (.412) with a 1.000 OPS in a small sample of five games, but he took a step back at the Classic, going 1-for-12 (.083) in four games. His lone hit was a game-tying two-run homer against Samurai Japan in a game that Korea went on to lose.
“He certainly scuffled over there, playing in the WBC," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "Here right now, he seems out of sync with his swing. So I think that I'm going to try to get him out there every day and to try to give him some consistency, and we'll go from there."
Kim's swing has been a work in progress since he signed with the Dodgers ahead of the 2025 season. While he did not get the results he desired for Team Korea, he was able to identify what he needs to work on with his swing. He pointed to his usage of his lower body and his bat path as components of his swing that have been "on and off" in each game he's played. He's spoken about addressing both of those issues dating back to last year.
In all likelihood, a week will not be enough time for Kim to truly feel comfortable with his swing. But he is determined to show the Dodgers that the other tools he brings to the table are deserving of a spot on the Opening Day roster.
“I want to make sure I focus on the things that I’m good at, such as defense and baserunning. I want to make sure that I perfect those categories," Kim said. "In the WBC, my numbers weren’t great, so I want to make sure that this last week I want to focus on my hitting also and hopefully make the Opening Day roster.”
Kim is competing with No. 8 prospect Alex Freeland to form the left-handed-hitting side of the platoon at second base, which also features right-handed hitters Miguel Rojas and Santiago Espinal. Freeland has not fared well at the plate this spring, going just 4-for-34 (.118), although he's gotten on base at a .304 clip.
Because Kim is on a guaranteed Major League contract and has more experience than Freeland, he seems to have the edge for a roster spot. But he does have to earn it in this final week of spring action.
“It’s important to see what we need to see. Because yeah, he obviously makes sense on our roster," Roberts said. "But he also has to get into a good place where he feels confident that he can conduct at-bats and be productive. That’s the same thing with Alex Freeland as well. At least we still have time to figure some things out.”