Hyeseong Kim's HR off Yoshinobu Yamamoto already makes him frontrunner in Dodgers 2B battle

The Dodgers have a real position battle on their hands in spring training. With Tommy Edman out for Opening Day — and who knows how long after — Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland are fighting for, in Dave Roberts' own words, "the same spot on the 26-man."

LA's roster has seemed so airtight all offseason that no one would've expected actual competition in the spring, but now the Dodgers have to choose between a fan favorite and a rising top prospect.

Neither is going to make it easy on each other, surely, but Kim might've already gotten out ahead. On Tuesday, while facing Yoshinobu Yamamoto in a live batting practice, he hit an opposite field homer off of his teammate.

The real test, of course, will be actual games, but Roberts will be watching everyone and everything closely. It's the season for overreacting to spring training homers, and for fans that really want to see Kim succeed and get a real shot at making an impression on the team, this is one that we're going to read into heavily.

Hyeseong Kim launches opposite field homer off of Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Dodgers spring training

Kim isn't a guy who was signed for his power. He had a .403 career slugging in eight KBO seasons — respectable, but not a calling card. His .304 average, .364 OBP, and average of 26 stolen bases per season in Korea were what made him attractive not only to the Dodgers but reportedly the Angels, Mariners, and more. It made him an unusual get for the Dodgers, who are far more focused on power.

Freeland's not really a power guy, either, but he could turn into a Freddie Freeman-esque doubles machine in the majors if he works out, and he has good plate discipline — 82 walks to 111 strikeouts in Triple-A last season.

Both of them almost certainly need more regular playing time for the Dodgers to get a full gauge of their abilities, but the odd at-bat here or there in spring training is going to be the best that one of them gets, so they'd better make them count.

It's likely to keep going back and forth like this until Opening Day. Maybe Freeland will hit a nuke off of Yamamoto tomorrow. But Kim shot first, so Freeland is the one who's going to have the catching up to do.