The Dodgers on Sunday optioned Hyeseong Kim to Triple-A Oklahoma City, which decides the lone position-player battle still remaining in camp. This means Alex Freeland will make the opening day roster.
Kim and the switch-hitting Freeland were vying for the lefty-batting side of a platoon at second base while Tommy Edman continues to rehab in the early part of the season after right ankle surgery in November.
Kim had 11 hits in 27 at-bats with a home run this spring, hitting .407/.448/.519 with a team-leading five stolen bases without getting caught. He had one hit, a home run, in 12 at-bats for Korea in the World Baseball Classic.
Freeland homered on Saturday but otherwise has struggled at the plate this spring, with five hits in 43 at-bats, hitting .116/.286/233 with a team-leading 11 walks. Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic reported Sunday that Freeland was informed he will be on the opening day roster.
So this obviously wasn’t a decision based solely on spring training stats, at least not of the traditional variety. The concern with Kim, who signed a three-year contract with the Dodgers last January after eight years in the Korean Baseball Organization, was how he would fare against high-velocity pitching in the major leagues.
Dave Roberts on Friday at Camelback Ranch talked about this battle for a roster spot, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register:
“It’s one of those things that you could argue both sides of either decision, as far as Alex or Hyeseong. And so I just don’t think it’s clear cut,” he said. “We still haven’t seen Hyeseong a bunch. Alex, I think he’s taken great at-bats, the numbers, the surface line certainly isn’t there, but it’s still spring training. There’s just deeper conversations that are going to be had.”
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