Dodgers' Hyeseong Kim shines, proves himself essential in first starting role

The only silver lining to Tommy Edman's trip to the 10-day IL was that Hyeseong Kim would finally be getting a chance in the majors. Kim, a fellow utilityman, was an obvious stopgap replacement for Edman, who the Dodgers hope will only stay on the IL for the minimum amount of time. In Kim's first two appearances, he came in as a pinch runner and stole his first base against the Braves in his second, but he got his first major league start against the Marlins on Monday night.

He slotted in at the bottom of the order and started at second base. He flew out in his first at-bat, but he collected his first major league hit in the next, with a leadoff single in the top of the fifth. He stole his second bag with Shohei Ohtani up to the plate, and then Ohtani brought him around to score on a 117.9 MPH homer, the hardest-hit of his career.

Kim went 2-for-3 on the night and picked up his first RBI in the top of the sixth, with another single that scored Andy Pages and put the Dodgers up 6-1. He was, as expected, also solid on defense, and almost pulled off a nice out on a glove flip that Freddie Freeman just couldn't keep a hold of.

The Dodgers signed Kim to be something of a Swiss Army Knife, and they certainly got a taste of that in his starting debut.

Hyeseong Kim plays solid defense, collects first major league hit and RBI in Dodgers' starting lineup debut

Signing Kim was uncharacteristic for the Dodgers; he had a .304 career batting average in eight KBO seasons as a very effective contact hitter, but his power numbers left something to be desired, and it didn't immediately mesh with LA's power-first approach.

He'll have to wait on his first major league home run, but he did show off some stunning potential for power in Triple-A, when he hit a 462-foot bomb in mid-April, his second on that night and third of the season (he's since hit two more in Oklahoma City).

Although it seemed likely that Kim would get sent down as soon as Edman's ready to come off the IL, Teoscar Hernández's early exit on Monday and impending MRI may buy Kim some more time in the majors, and he does have outfield experience in both MLB and the KBO. While he definitely wouldn't be a replacement for Hernández's power, batting Kim at the bottom of the lineup to get him on base (career .364 OBP in the KBO) for Ohtani has already proven that it works for the Dodgers' offense.