Hyeseong Kim (; born January 27, 1999) is a South Korean professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

, and

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the ...

for the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). Nicknamed "The Comet", he is well-known for his speed. Kim previously played in the

KBO League The KBO League () is a professional baseball league in South Korea. The league comprises ten teams. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers are the most success ...

for the

Kiwoom Heroes The Kiwoom Heroes () are a South Korean professional baseball, professional baseball team based in Seoul. They are a member of the KBO League. The Heroes play their home games at Gocheok Sky Dome in Gocheok-dong, a neighborhood located in the sou ...

. He made his MLB debut on May 3, 2025 with the Dodgers. Kim is the only KBO player to receive the Golden Glove Award at shortstop and second base.

Career

Amateur and international career

In 2016, Kim received the Lee Young-min Batting Award, given to the top-hitting high school player in South Korea. Kim appeared in six

contests during the

2022 Asian Games The 2022 Asian Games (), officially the 19th Asian Games () and also known as Hangzhou 2022 ( zh, c=, s=杭州2022, labels=no), were a continental multi-sport event which was held from 23 September to 8 October 2023 in Hangzhou, China. The ...

, batting .292/.500/.370 in 18 at-bats, and winning a gold medal for

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. He also played for the

South Korea national baseball team The South Korean national baseball team (), also known as the Blue Wave (), is the national baseball team of South Korea. It has participated in every edition of the World Baseball Classic (WBC), reaching the finals in 2009, and won the WBSC Pre ...

at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

and

2023 World Baseball Classic The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball tournament and the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It began on March 8, 2023, and ran until March 21. It was originally scheduled to take place in ...

Nexen / Kiwoom Heroes

Kim signed with the

Nexen Heroes The Kiwoom Heroes () are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Seoul. They are a member of the KBO League. The Heroes play their home games at Gocheok Sky Dome in Gocheok-dong, a neighborhood located in the southwestern part of Se ...

of the

and played for them from 2017 through 2024, batting .304 with 37 home runs, 386 RBI and 211 stolen bases in 953 games for the Heroes, who became the Kiwoom Heroes in 2019. He also won four KBO Golden Glove Awards for his defensive ability. In his final season in the KBO League, Kim played in 127 games for Kiwoom, slashing .326/.383/.458 with 30 stolen bases and career-highs in home runs (11) and RBI (75). On December 4, 2024, the Heroes posted Kim to

(MLB) as a free agent.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On January 3, 2025, Kim signed a three-year, $12.5 million guaranteed contract, which also contained two additional option years that would increase the value to $22 million, with the

. The Dodgers also had to pay an additional posting fee of $2.5 million to the Heroes. On March 11, the Dodgers announced that Kim, after struggling with the bat in

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

games, would start the season in Triple-A with the

Oklahoma City Comets The Oklahoma City Comets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and play their ho ...

. On May 3, Kim was called up to the major leagues and he made his MLB debut as a defensive replacement that night against the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

. Kim recorded his first MLB hit, against

Sandy Alcántara Sandy Alcántara Montero (born September 7, 1995) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the St. Louis Cardinals. Alcántara signed with the Cardinal ...

of the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League East, East Division. The ...

, on May 5 in his first start. He had two hits, an RBI, and scored a run in the game. His first MLB home run was off

Gunnar Hoglund Gunnar Thomas Hoglund (born December 17, 1999) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). Hoglund played college baseball for the Ole Miss Rebels and made his MLB debut in 2025. Amateur career ...

of the

Athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

on May 14.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Hye-seong 1999 births Living people 21st-century South Korean sportsmen Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games gold medalists in baseball Asian Games baseball players for South Korea Baseball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Baseball players at the 2022 Asian Games Baseball players from Gyeonggi Province KBO League infielders Kiwoom Heroes players Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball players from South Korea Major League Baseball second basemen Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games Oklahoma City Comets players Olympic baseball players for South Korea Place of birth missing (living people) South Korean expatriate baseball players in the United States Sportspeople from Goyang World Baseball Classic players of South Korea 2023 World Baseball Classic players

Career

Amateur and international career

Nexen / Kiwoom Heroes

Los Angeles Dodgers

See also

References

External links