Kim Hye-sung to Minor → An interesting analysis daily, "WBC participation affects, and the mechanism collapses."

*This content was translated by AI.

While national infielder Kim Hye-sung (27)'s entry into the opening roster was eventually canceled, the Japanese media is even more in trouble. It draws attention by mentioning that the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) participation was one of the backgrounds of Kim Hye-sung, a close junior of Shohei Ohtani (32, LA Dodgers).

Japan's Sponichi Annex said on the 23rd, "Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (54) confessed that it was a very difficult decision to downgrade Kim Hye-sung to the minor league." "I suggested that the team's departure from the WBC had an impact," he said.

Prior to this, the Dodgers officially announced on the 23rd that they had sent Kim Hye-sung to Oklahoma City, a triple-A team under their wing. Instead of Kim Hye-sung, Alex Freeland (25) a "promising star" has been decided to be included in the opening entry.

The most interesting part about the Dodgers' decision is that it was affected by their participation in WBC. According to Sponichi Annex, Roberts paid attention to Kim Hye-sung's stark differences in condition before and after the WBC tournament.

Before joining the national team, Kim Hye-sung demonstrated his strength by hitting a batting average of 0.462 (6 hits in 13 at-bats) in four exhibition games as a member of the Dodgers. However, in the four games of the WBC finals, he only had one hit in 12 at-bats and a 0.083 batting average. The only comfort was a two-run home run against bullpen pitcher Ito Hiromi (Nephonham Fighters) in the match against Japan.

Roberts diagnosed, "I don't think Kim Hye-sung's hitting mechanism was in a good condition when he went to WBC." "It would be an honor to play for the national team, but I'm sorry that the batting mechanism that should have been maintained by continuously communicating with our coaching staff was broken," he said, suggesting that the gap in the tournament's playing period negatively affected the batting balance.

At the same time, he made it clear that Kim Hye-sung's downgrade to the minor league was not a distrust of his ability. Currently, the Dodgers' infield is rich in available resources such as Alex Freeland and Miguel Rojas, as well as Kim Hye-sung, despite Tommy Edman's departure due to ankle surgery.

"What Kim Hye-sung needs the most at this point is not waiting for the bench, but the actual experience of playing every day," Roberts said. "In Triple-A, it is beneficial for both the team and the players in the long run to fill the number of at-bats by playing various positions such as shortstop and center fielder as well as second baseman."

At the beginning of the season, the Dodgers reportedly plan to operate the second baseman position as a "flatoon system" that puts Freeland and Rojas against left-handed pitchers for the time being.

As a result, Kim Hye-sung took a short breath facing the 'double-edged sword' called WBC. According to Roberts' analysis, which even the Japanese media paid attention to, Kim Hye-sung reorganized the batting mechanism that collapsed in the minor leagueAttention is focusing on whether he can be called to Just Stadium.

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*This content was translated by AI.