The Dodgers finally made a decision on the final spot for their Opening Day roster.
And their choice qualified as a mild surprise.
On Sunday morning, the team announced it had optioned infielder Hyeseong Kim to Triple-A Oklahoma City, clearing the way for fellow infielder Alex Freeland to make the team to begin the season.
Now, the Dodgers’ position player group looks set, with Freeland likely to platoon at second base alongside Miguel Rojas while Tommy Edman continues recovering from offseason ankle surgery.
Freeland and Kim had been competing for that second base opening throughout the spring, trying to serve as a left-handed-hitting option opposite Rojas.
But for much of camp, it appeared Kim had the advantage –– thanks not only to Freeland’s struggles in Cactus League play, where he hit .116, but the added dynamic of Kim’s speed and ability to play in the outfield, as well as the strides he seemed to be making early in the spring with his swing mechanics.
However, during his time with Team South Korea in the World Baseball Classic, Kim’s swing suffered a rapid regression. He went 1 for 12 in the tournament with six strikeouts, even against largely lesser quality pitching. And when he rejoined the Dodgers last week, manager Dave Roberts said his swing was looking “out of sync” compared with earlier in the spring.
Freeland, meanwhile, impressed Dodgers brass enough with his improved plate discipline in camp, drawing as many walks as he did strikeouts (11 each) in the Cactus League.
He also punctuated his spring with a highlight, hitting a home run in Saturday’s Cactus League finale.
“I think he’s taken great at-bats,” Roberts said this week of Freeland, who hit .190 in 29 major-league games as a rookie last year. “The numbers, the surface line certainly isn’t there. But it’s still spring training.”
Sunday’s move might say more about the progress the club still wants to see Kim make, as sending him to Triple-A will provide him with regular playing time he wouldn’t have gotten if he began the season in the majors.
After signing a three-year, $12.5 million deal last offseason, Kim hit .383 in his first 37 games but then slumped to a .175 average over the second half of the year, with MLB pitchers quickly learning to exploit holes in his swing (most notably, an ability to adjust to spin below the zone).
And while Kim still finished his nine Cactus League games this spring with a .407 average, he also struck out eight times and drew only one walk, showing some of the same bad habits that derailed his rookie campaign.
