"Kim Hyesung's mountain." LAD infielder "Again." One more... Ryu Hyun-jin's second baseman minor contract

*This content was translated by AI.

The Los Angeles Dodgers added another infielder. The main character is second baseman Santiago Espinal (32), who was firmly behind Ryu Hyun-jin (39, Hanwha Eagles) during the Toronto Blue Jays.

U.S. media MLB Trade Rumors said on the 17th (Korea Standard Time), "The Dodgers signed a minor league contract with Espinal. Espinal was included in the Major League Baseball camp list," he said.

This is the aftermath of Tommy Edman (31), a Korean major leaguer, having surgery on his right ankle in November last year. As the main utility Edman's failure to join the opening roster became official, the Dodgers took out another insurance policy. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the Dodgers spring camp training on the day, "Edman is recovering from ankle surgery. However, joining the opening game is not easy. We will start with the injured list," he said.

Espinal, from the Dominican Republic, is an infielder with strong defense. He made his big league debut with Toronto in 2020 and played in 578 games in six seasons with a batting average of 0.261 (423 hits in 1,619 at-bats), 20 home runs, 160 RBIs, 180 runs and 28 steals, and an OPS (On base rate + slugging rate) of 0.665.

The most brilliant time was in the 2021-2022 season with Ryu Hyun-jin. In 2021, Espinal had his best season with a 92-game OPS of 0.781 with his first career .300 batting average. In 2022, he played in 135 games and was selected as the first All-Star in his career.

The main position was third base, playing 1,794 ⅔ innings, and as a second baseman, he played 1,621 ⅔ in 219 games to cover the back of Ryu Hyun-jin, who had a lot of ground balls. However, his batting performance rarely improved and he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in 2024.

MLB Trade Rumors predicted competition, saying, "Roberts mentioned Miguel Rojas, Alex Freeland and Kim Hye-sung as second baseman candidates, and Espinal can join the trend."

Kim Hye-sung, who has a lot of competitors, is still living together. before the 2025 seasonKim Hye-sung, who signed a three-plus-two-year, up to 22 million U.S. dollars contract with Juss, has achieved his big league dream.

However, his regular-season performance was not good with a batting average of 0.280 (45 hits in 161 at-bats), three homers, 17 RBIs, 19 runs and 13 steals, and an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 0.699, so he played only two games throughout the postseason. It's comforting to experience my first professional win by winning the World Series.

The presence of a growing number of competitors in the context of starting with a backup utility is not welcome. In addition to Kim Hye-sung, there are many players on the Dodgers roster who can play second baseman, including Freeland, Rojas, Kike Hernandez and Edman.

One good thing is that Kim Hye-sung was classified as a resource he wanted to give the Dodgers a chance. Another U.S. media outlet, LA Sports Sports, said, "Both Kim Hye-sung and Freeland are young and motivated. The Dodgers also seem to have high expectations for them, so the main competition is expected to become very interesting," he said.

As if reflecting this, the fan graph also listed Kim Hye-sung as the Dodgers' second baseman without Edman.

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*This content was translated by AI.