Kim is Cursed.

[yujinishuge]

In Korea at the beginning of last year there were accusations that either Buck or the Organization is racist somehow for not putting Kim in the lineup every day or giving him time shared with rookies like Rickard. Analysts also hated that the organization had tried to get him to agree to be sent down to the minors. (All this after his horrible spring, which some of the analysts DID point out.)

This year though there is surprisingly less of that kind of speculation when I expected more since Kim eventually DID kind of prove himself as a capable hitter last year. 

He is in the second year of a two year contract and I'm not so sure he would re-sign with Baltimore next year. Would not be surprised if another team perhaps one that's mid-rebuild gives him a chance to play every day. 

[Barnfather]

I'm a huge Kim fan and would love to see him get more AB's than he is doing

[LA2]

On May 2, 2017 at 2:06 PM, Barnfather said:

I'm a huge Kim fan and would love to see him get more AB's than he is doing

It must be because his .341 OBP, though team-leading, is 40-60 points less than last year. The league is catching up to him! 

[Frobby]

5 minutes ago, LA2 said:

It must be because his .341 OBP, though team-leading, is 40-60 points less than last year. The league is catching up to him! 

While I think Kim should have been playing a bit more, it gets a bit tiresome hearing people harp on his OBP like that's the only stat that matters.    His overall line is .250/.341/.361 and that's not very good, and his defense isn't good either.    I'd be pretty unhappy if he posted a .703 OPS for the season.   Of course 41 plate appearances is hardly a basis for judgment as to how well he'll hit this year.    I'm just making a general point that OBP is not the only data point that's relevant to judging whether Kim should play.  

[LA2]

20 minutes ago, Frobby said:

While I think Kim should have been playing a bit more, it gets a bit tiresome hearing people harp on his OBP like that's the only stat that matters.    His overall line is .250/.341/.361 and that's not very good, and his defense isn't good either.    I'd be pretty unhappy if he posted a .703 OPS for the season.   Of course 41 plate appearances is hardly a basis for judgment as to how well he'll hit this year.    I'm just making a general point that OBP is not the only data point that's relevant to judging whether Kim should play.  

I mentioned it, and still believe it is worth emphasizing, because, as far as I know, no one has mentioned that Kim is actually leading the team in OBP. Every player has his positive attributes and limitations, but I don't think one can argue that OBP is not a very important offensive statistic that the team has been lacking for many seasons. Once we start hitting home runs at the expected pace, having men on base is going to become even more important. We are tied for the third worst OBP in the AL at .297 (Kim: .341) and, obviously, OBP is a major factor in the OPS your post valorized. As for Kim's OPS, last year it was .801 (OPS+: 115) and I don't think we have any reason yet to doubt that he can approach that level again this year.

[Frobby]

39 minutes ago, LA2 said:

As for Kim's OPS, last year it was .801 (OPS+: 115) and I don't think we have any reason yet to doubt that he can approach that level again this year.

If I had to guess, I'd guess he'll be lower than .801.     PECOTA had his median forecast at .774.   They have him at about a 40% chance of equaling or beating .801.     As I said, his 41 PA so far don't tell us much one way or the other.  

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, RZNJ said:

Buck isn't racist. He just hates Kim's defense and doesn't believe in his first half offense from last year.  

But he's OK with Trumbo, Young, Flaherty and Mancini in the outfield?  He suggested Pedro learn the outfield but Kim's glove is the problem?

 

I'm not, and I don't think anyone here is, suggesting that the fact that Kim is Korean is the issue.

[Can_of_corn]

4 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

There's a reason why Buck doesn't play him more.  Can you come up with something better than what I did?

Nope, not a clue.

But it isn't his defense since Buck has shown a willingness to put guys out there that are as bad or worse.

[SteveA]

I certainly think Kim should start vs EVERY righthanded pitcher.

I believe (correct me if I am wrong), he has now failed to start four times vs righties?   Two vs Wright, one game in Cincinnati, and then Monday night in Boston vs Porcello.   I was certainly willing to give Buck a pass on the one game in Cincinnati, since we didn't have the DH and were trying to fit too many hitters into too few spots in LF/RF/1B/DH in those 3 games.   And apparently Buck doesn't seem to want to throw him against Wright, I'm going to assume he has SOME reason to believe that Kim won't do well vs a knuckler.

But Monday night was the first time I really started to wonder if Can and others weren't just being paranoid here.   I don't see any reason not to put Kim in the lineup vs Porcello.   And I sure as heck hope he's in there tonight as well.

[LA2]

44 minutes ago, Frobby said:

If I had to guess, I'd guess he'll be lower than .801.     PECOTA had his median forecast at .774.   They have him at about a 40% chance of equaling or beating .801.     As I said, his 41 PA so far don't tell us much one way or the other.  

That's reasonable. Let's see what happens--I think we've seen that he's a talented enough hitter to adapt.

[Tx Oriole]

6 minutes ago, SteveA said:

I certainly think Kim should start vs EVERY righthanded pitcher.

I believe (correct me if I am wrong), he has now failed to start four times vs righties?   Two vs Wright, one game in Cincinnati, and then Monday night in Boston vs Porcello.   I was certainly willing to give Buck a pass on the one game in Cincinnati, since we didn't have the DH and were trying to fit too many hitters into too few spots in LF/RF/1B/DH in those 3 games.   And apparently Buck doesn't seem to want to throw him against Wright, I'm going to assume he has SOME reason to believe that Kim won't do well vs a knuckler.

But Monday night was the first time I really started to wonder if Can and others weren't just being paranoid here.   I don't see any reason not to put Kim in the lineup vs Porcello.   And I sure as heck hope he's in there tonight as well.

Well does Buck maybe feel that Kim was forced on him by DD? Didn't want him signed in the first place? 

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, RZNJ said:

It isn't JUST his defense.

So what else is it?

[atomic]

It is pretty cool that Kim is on the cover of a video game.  Buck should play Kim more.  He doesn't like Kim for whatever reason.  Hopefully,  next year Kim gets more of a chance wherever he is playing.

[Going Underground]

29 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

So what else is it?

Before Kim got to the Orioles,Buck said Kim needs to lose a few pounds and he knows it. Maybe he never lost the weight.Who knows?

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, Going Underground said:

Before Kim got to the Orioles,Buck said Kim needs to lose a few pounds and he knows it. Maybe he never lost the weight.Who knows?

Quote

Kim, who arrived early to Sarasota last year to get in shape with vice president of baseball operations Brady Anderson, said he's in much better shape than a year ago. And, while his transition from the Korean Baseball League was tough enough, he also didn't get to work out as much as he would have liked, as he got married that winter.

http://m.orioles.mlb.com/news/article/216442228/hyun-soo-kim-relaxed-entering-spring-training/