Hyeseong Kim needs to shake out of WBC funk quickly as Dodgers 2B battle rages on

Team Korea exited the World Baseball Classic in rather embarrassing fashion. They made it to the quarterfinal after placing second in Pool C behind Japan, but were not only shut out but mercy ruled by a powerhouse Team Dominican Republic.

Hyeseong Kim was the lone Dodgers representative who left camp for Team Korea, and outside of a clutch game-tying homer against Japan in pool play (a game that Korea went on to lose), he was almost silent throughout the tournament.

It didn't bode well for his status back at Dodgers camp, where he was in the middle of a roster battle for second base — and doing very well. Before he left, he was 6-for-13 at the plate with a homer and five RBI. It made him look like the clear frontrunner over rookie Alex Freeland. Dave Roberts said earlier in camp that the two were fighting for the same roster spot, with Santiago Espinal getting a role on the bench.

Upon Kim's return, Dave Roberts said his swing looked "out of sync," and certainly made it sound like they're still at a standstill in terms of a decision.

Kim has played in two games since coming back and has collected a. couple of hits, but he needs to get hot quickly with just about a week to go until Opening Day.

Hyeseong Kim is running out of time to make an impression on Dodgers after underwhelming WBC

Freeland still isn't hitting particularly well. He's walking constantly, which is a huge part of his game, but he's just 4-for-34 so far.

Brandon Gomes had some kind words about Freeland's progress, but Roberts seemed less impressed. "He has to get into a good place where he feels confident that he can conduct at-bats and be productive," he said of Kim. "That's the same thing with Alex Freeland as well. At least we still have time to figure some things out."

Not that much time. Spring training wraps up on Tuesday, March 24 with the Dodgers' annual Freeway Series against the Angels. They play their home opener on March 26 against the Diamondbacks.

Kim still feels like the clear choice to most Dodgers fans. Even if he's still not hitting up to Roberts' standards (even though he's still batting .421 with a 1.029 OPS across all of his spring training games), he's still been more productive than Freeland. Leaving for the WBC might've been a mistake in the grand scheme of things but, as Roberts said, they still have a little bit of time.