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On March 22, the Los Angeles Dodgers announced that Hyeseong Kim wouldn’t be making the Opening Day Roster. Kim is being optioned to Triple-A, clearing a path for Alex Freeland to claim the final spot.
Kim put together an impressive spring, hitting .407 with a .967 OPS and consistently driving the ball. He did step away from the Dodgers for a stretch to represent Team Korea in the World Baseball Classic, though.
Nonetheless, Los Angeles skipper Dave Roberts noted that this option to Triple-A will allow Kim to play every day and improve his versatility across multiple positions, which the team values.
“Probably the toughest decision of the spring,” Roberts told SportsNet LA on March 22. “There’s no doubt that Hyeseong, at some point, is going to come help us out. I think the driver at the outset was giving Hyeseong an opportunity to play every day, play all over the diamond.
“He’s going to play some short, some center, some second base there. Whereas here, he just wouldn’t have the runway to do that, to play more frequently.”
Dave Roberts Explains Alex Freeland Decision
Moreover, Roberts went into detail about why the Dodgers decided it was ideal to pick Alex Freeland over Kim ahead of their Opening Day game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“With Alex, it’s just what he’s done in Triple-A already,” Roberts added. “He’s really played well there. There’s really nothing left for him to prove there. I think for us to give him a little bit of runway to see what we got in him, give him an opportunity to play here for us against right-handed pitching.
“Just kind of see where it goes. But again, it’s really not an indictment on Hyeseong at all. We think the world of him as a player, as a teammate, and expect him to help us at some point.”
Dodgers Insider Gives Roki Sasaki Update
Meanwhile, the Dodgers are counting on Roki Sasaki to be a starter in the rotation despite his struggles in spring training. The 24-year-old has started three games, leading to a 13.50 ERA, a 2.70 WHIP, and 10 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings pitched, per MLB.com.
With Opening Day a few days away, The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya shared his blunt update on Sasaki as a starter.
“The thing that’s concerning with [Sasaki] being in the rotation to start the season is, what if he has one of these blowup innings early on in a regular season game? What does it do to your bullpen going forward? All that sort of stuff,” Ardaya said on the March 19 edition of “Dodgers Collective.”
“This is stuff that the Dodgers obviously can afford, especially in April and May. This was the spot they were in last year with him, and they got along just fine… They also feel that rookie Roki Sasaki’s best development is going to come in the big leagues, and they’re willing to swallow whatever lumps come their way.
“It’s a luxury that the Dodgers are in, but it’s something that you have to sort of monitor, how this is going to impact his development going forward and how long of a leash he’s going to have going into the season.”
Eduardo Razo Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo
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