Hyeseong Kim's Dodgers 2026 tryout just ramped up a notch at World Baseball Classic

Hyeseong Kim left the Dodgers for the World Baseball Classic a little over a week ago, but a dark horse candidate has already emerged back in Glendale.

Santiago Espinal, a minor league signing for LA, has basically cemented his place on the Dodgers' Opening Day roster in just seven games. Dave Roberts said, "It'd be hard to imagine him not being on the team," after Espinal's two-homer day on Thursday.

That still leaves a roster spot for one of Hyeseong Kim or Alex Freeland, who were really the only two players on fans' radar in this second base battle before Espinal distinguished himself.

Kim left the team in the middle of a heater, right after hitting his first homer of the spring against the White Sox. Freeland is still in camp and struggling by comparison, but the top prospect will get a lot more playing time in the middle infield in Kim's absence and is showing off some advanced plate discipline.

So the WBC, for Kim, has to be about more than just playing for his country — he has a roster spot to nail down with the Dodgers, too.

Hyeseong Kim's WBC performance has to be about more than national pride as Dodgers' 2B battle goes on without him

Korea won their first game of pool play against Team Czechia in an (all respect to Team Czechia) unsurprising blowout on Thursday. Korea came out on top 11-4; Kim went 0-for-3 but contributed an RBI groundout and didn't strike out at all.

Kim was the clear frontrunner when he left, but a lot can change in a few weeks — just look at how quickly the Dodgers became enamored with Espinal. Since Kim's last game on Feb. 26, Freeland has appeared in five spring training games. Granted, it hasn't been to much success (he's 1-for-12 with four walks), but you never know — things could turn on a dime.

Team Korea will take on their historical rivals on Team Japan on Saturday in what should be appointment viewing (but is complicated by the fact that the game starts at 2 AM PST). These two countries tend to play some of their best baseball against each other, and Kim will get the chance to go up against some of his Dodgers teammates.

We're all still rooting for Kim, and this tournament is a pivotal time for him. It's time for him to really make a mark.