{"id":97228,"date":"2025-03-11T21:23:35","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T01:23:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=97228"},"modified":"2025-03-11T21:23:35","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T01:23:35","slug":"dodgers-hyeseong-kim-start-season-minors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/03\/11\/dodgers-hyeseong-kim-start-season-minors\/","title":{"rendered":"Highly Touted Dodgers Infielder Will Start the Season at Triple-A"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Los Angeles Dodgers infielder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=kim---016hye&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-03-11_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hyeseong Kim<\/a> will not travel with the team to Japan, and will instead start the season in the minors at Triple-A Oklahoma City, according to David Vassegh of Sportsnet LA. Manager <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=roberda07,roberda05,roberda06,roberda03&amp;search=Dave+Roberts&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-03-11_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dave Roberts<\/a> made the announcement after the Dodgers finished their last Cactus League game. The Dodgers leave for Tokyo tomorrow and begin the season against the Chicago Cubs on March 18.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Hyeseong Kim will not travel to Japan with <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Dodgers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Dodgers<\/a> and Dave Roberts said decision has been made for Kim to begin season at Triple-A OKC.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 David Vassegh (@THEREAL_DV) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/THEREAL_DV\/status\/1899596842494836797?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 11, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Hyeseong Kim Will Begin Season in the Minors<\/h2>\n<h3>Surprise Signing<\/h3>\n<p>The Dodgers have had an active offseason, signing multiple <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/12\/14\/dodgers-linked-to-division-rivals-shutdown-set-up-man\/\" target=\"_self\">front-line free agents<\/a>. Kim&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/01\/03\/hyeseong-kim-dodgers\/\" target=\"_self\">signing<\/a> raised some eyebrows, given the fact that his natural position is shortstop. Los Angeles has already tabbed perennial All-Star <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bettsmo01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-03-11_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mookie Betts<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/12\/09\/dodgers-mookie-betts-moving-back-shortstop\/\" target=\"_self\">to patrol<\/a> that position. However, the Dodgers place a premium on team versatility, and Kim was getting time at second base. The defensive transition went seamlessly.<\/p>\n<h3>Swinging Reconstruction<\/h3>\n<p>However, Kim was not known for his bat when he played in the Korean Baseball Organization. As a result, the Dodgers determined that if he were to have long-term success at the major league level, he would have to make adjustments to his swing. Roberts broached the subject that the native Korean may begin the season <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/02\/25\/dodgers-unsure-hyesong-kim-defensive-position\/\" target=\"_self\">in the minors<\/a> to continue refining his offensive craft. Although there have been a few bright spots along the way, it is apparent that Kim needs more time for his swing to be more consistent. Thus, the move to the minors.<\/p>\n<h3>Who Plays Second Base?<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/e\/edmanto01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-03-11_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tommy Edman<\/a>, who was originally slated to be the Dodgers&#8217; Opening Day center fielder, will most likely begin 2025 at second base. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/rojasmi02.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-03-11_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Miguel Rojas<\/a> and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/t\/tayloch03.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-03-11_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chris Taylor<\/a> can spell the veteran when needed. As for who will man center field, that is yet to be determined. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/pagesan01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-03-11_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andy Pages<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/o\/outmaja01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-03-11_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">James Outman<\/a> are fighting for the last roster spot. Whoever wins will likely land in center field on Opening Day.<\/p>\n<p>As for Hyeseong Kim, he will make his major league debut soon. Delay is not denial. He just needs some seasoning.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a9 Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Hyeseong Kim will not travel with the team to Japan, and will instead start the season in the minors at Triple-A Oklahoma City, according to David Vassegh of Sportsnet LA. Manager Dave Roberts made the announcement after the Dodgers finished their last Cactus League game. The Dodgers leave for Tokyo tomorrow [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5226,"featured_media":97241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33,1071,35],"tags":[28464,1732,28818,6373,2816,250,3899],"class_list":["post-97228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dodgers","category-mlb","category-news","tag-andy-pages","tag-chris-taylor","tag-hyeseong-kim","tag-james-outman","tag-miguel-rojas","tag-mookie-betts","tag-tommy-edman"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5226"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97228"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97242,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97228\/revisions\/97242"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}