The San Diego Padres’ Yuki Matsui, 29, has put his faith in the defense of shortstop Ha-seong Kim, 29.
Matsui is a left-handed closer in Nippon Professional Baseball who signed a five-year, $28 million guaranteed contract with San Diego this offseason. In 501 career NPB games (659⅔ innings), Matsui has a 25-46 record, 76 wins, 236 losses, and 236 saves with a 2.40 ERA and a career strikeout rate of 11.73 batters per nine innings. He was dominant in 2021, going 2-2 with a 0.63 ERA in 43 games (43 innings) and 24 saves, and last year he was 2-3 with a 1.57 ERA in 59 games (57⅓ innings), 8-8 with 39 saves.
After signing with San Diego, Matsui made his big league debut against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opening two games of the MLB World Tour Seoul Series 2024 with Coupang Play at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on April 20 and 21.
Matsui, who went 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in two games (1 1/3 innings) in the Seoul Series, had a top velocity of 92.9 mph (149.5 km/h), but his changeup – a splitter, sweeper, 토토사이트 and curveball – was effective in eliciting batters’ swings.
Matsui, who was a standout strikeout pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball, struck out seven batters in the Seoul Series and walked just one. It’s a small sample size, but it’s likely that Matsui will strike out fewer batters in the major leagues than he did in NPB because his velocity isn’t as high. That’s where the help of the infield comes in.
Kim Ha-seong will be the starting shortstop behind Matsui this season.
Kim, who was drafted by Nexen (now Kiwoom) in the third round (29th overall) of the 2014 KBO Rookie Draft, has been one of the league’s leading shortstops, batting .294 (3195-for-940) with 133 home runs, 575 RBI, 606 runs scored, 134 stolen bases, and an .866 OPS in 891 KBO games. After the 2020 season, Post signed a four-year, $28 million guaranteed contract with San Diego to remain in the majors.
He is entering his fourth season in the majors after batting .708 with 36 home runs, 153 RBI, 169 runs scored, 56 doubles, and an OPS of .708 in 419 career games (1322-for-324). Last season, he had his best season yet, batting .266 (140-for-538) with 17 home runs, 60 RBI, 84 runs scored, 38 doubles, and a .749 OPS in 152 games. He also excelled on defense, winning the National League Gold Glove for utility. He is the first Korean player and first Asian infielder to win a Gold Glove.
Kim, who reclaimed the starting shortstop position from Xander Bogaerts this season, celebrated his golden homecoming on the field of his old stomping grounds at the Gocheok Dome in San Diego’s season opener on April 20. 파워볼사이트 He was greeted with a huge cheer from the fans and was given the ball by starter Park Chan-ho. In the Seoul Series, he didn’t have a hit and only drew two walks, but his defense was impeccable.
Matsui, who watched Kim’s defense from the field, said, “He’s a super player. I’m not a beast, but if he’s behind me, I know he’ll protect me no matter where I go. He’s a very good player, so I think he’ll help me a lot in the future.”
