Ha-Sung Kim (28, San Diego Padres) has a great opportunity to improve his batting average. He’ll be facing his nemesis, Austin Gomber (30, Colorado Rockies).
Kim will start at second base, batting seventh, in the lineup for the 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series against Colorado at Coors Field in 스포츠토토 Coors Field, Colorado, USA, starting at 9:40 a.m. ET on Tuesday.
Kim is on track to become the first Asian infielder to win a Gold Glove with his flawless defense this season. However, his performance at the plate has been a bit different. He’s been hitting better since May, but with a .246 OPS and .723 slugging percentage, he’s still not completely satisfied.
That makes tonight’s game all the more welcome. Colorado’s starter tonight is Gomber. He made his debut in 2018 and moved to Colorado in 2021, where he has been seeing a lot of Kim Ha-seong.
Kim Hae-sung has been strong against Gombo. Against him, he went 5-for-10 with a home run, three RBIs, and two walks. He has a .500 batting average, a .583 on-base percentage, a 1.000 slugging percentage, and a 1.583 OPS.
This is why Kim was the choice of many users in fantasy baseball, a simulation game in which players sign real MLB players to their fictional teams and compete for points in real baseball games, according to ESPN.
“San Diego’s right-handed hitters are in a great spot for Gomber’s home start,” ESPN said, “It’s not uncommon for hitters to try to focus on Coors Field, but it’s especially easy to capitalize on rare hitters like Gary Sanchez and Ha-Sung Kim, who make (opponents’) weaknesses more pronounced.”
Kim had a multi-hit game (two or more hits in a game) against Gomber in an exhibition game this season. During the season, he went 0-for-1 but drew a walk.
Choi Ji-Man (32-Pittsburgh) and Choo Shin-Soo (41-SSG Landers) also had nemeses. It’s a bit different than Kim. Choi made the best pitchers of his era, Gerrit Cole (New York Yankees) and Shin-Soo Choo (New York Mets), cringe.
While Cole led the American League (AL) in wins and ERA and was a five-time All-Star, Choi hit .417 (10-for-24) with three home runs, eight RBIs, and a 1.450 OPS against him.
Shin-Soo Choo was in “dominance mode” against Max Scherzer (New York Mets), a three-time Cy Young Award winner, the honor given to MLB’s top pitcher. He batted .583 (14-for-24) with three home runs, six RBIs, and a 1.792 OPS. Scherzer famously expressed his delight when Shin-Soo Choo was traded from the Cleveland Indians to the Cincinnati Reds in 2013.
While Gomber isn’t one of the top pitchers in the league like those guys, it’s still a pretty impressive record. Gomber has been a steady fixture in Colorado’s starting rotation. San Diego and Colorado are together in the National League (NL) West. They face each other more often than any other division, so it’s a matchup that Kim will be happy to see and Gomber will want to avoid. Plus, Coors Field is a notoriously hitter-friendly ballpark. It’s a good reason to look forward to Kim’s bat on this day.