The San Diego Padres are struggling to get out of the swamp of decline despite Kim Ha-seong (28)’s hard fight.메이저놀이터
San Diego lost 1-6 in a home game against the Boston Red Sox held at Petco Park in San Diego, California on the 20th (Korean time). San Diego, who finished the season with a record of 20 wins and 25 losses (0.444 win rate) due to this defeat, remained in 4th place in the National League West Division.
There was bad news. San Diego placed Manny Machado on the 10-day disabled list prior to the game. Machado had previously been hit on the groin of his left wrist against the Kansas City Royals, and was moved to the injured list for rest after it was confirmed that it was a microfracture.
Machado is San Diego’s central hitter and bench leader. There is Fernando Tatis Jr., who was raised by San Diego himself, but Machado has filled the position that Tatis Jr. vacated due to injuries and accidents over the past few years. His performance was excellent enough to be consistently named in the MVP (Most Valuable Player) vote, including last year, and his leadership to lead young players was brilliant.
Machado, who did that, is sluggish this season. Even before he was placed on the injured list, his OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) was just .654. In addition, since he had to leave due to an injury, the other line was in an emergency.
At least, Ha-seong Kim filled the empty spot right now. Kim Ha-seong, who played an active role as the main shortstop last year, is digesting other positions with the second baseman as the main position this season. When Machado broke away, he moved to third base to fill the void. He did his share in hitting too. In the 20th game, where he came in as the second batter, he went 4 at bats and maintained a batting average of 0.235 for the season. It is the second game in a row following the previous record of 2 hits and 2 walks against Kansas City on the 18th.
However, Ha-seong Kim cannot fill the void in San Diego to the extent that he does his part. In San Diego, where players with expensive ransoms are lined up, the total annual salary of the team this season is estimated to be 249 million dollars (330.8 billion won). Calculated based on luxury tax, it amounts to 277 million dollars (368 billion won). This is the result of a series of large contracts last winter, including Xander Bogatz (11 years, $280 million), Machado (11 years, $350 million), and Darvish Yu (6 years, $108 million).
In addition, they have Tatis Jr. and Joe Musgrove, who have already signed contracts, Juan Soto, who was acquired in a major trade, and Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell. It is undeniably the best star team in the major leagues. Prior to the season, ESPN predicted that San Diego would post close to 100 wins.
However, when I opened the lid, the result was the worst. Musgrove is coming back from an injury and has a 6.63 ERA. Snell is 1-5 with a 4.61 ERA. Bogatz, who played an active role with a batting average of 0.308 OPS and 0.914 in April, is only hitting a batting average of 0.208 OPS and 0.587 in May.
Based on the baseball reference, the person with the highest WAR (contribution to victory over substitute players) in San Diego is Kim Ha-seong (1.9), not high-paid star players. It was because Kim Ha-seong was so active, but on the contrary, it was the result of star players not being worthy of their names. To make matters worse, the depth of the 1st team was thinned by investing in the star corps. There are no runs scored in the lower batting line because hitters in the 10% range line up.
It was expected that they would win the National League West division as well as win more than 100 wins and even rise to the World Series, but the reality is that they are only 4th in the district. As of the 20th, there is a gap of 8.5 games compared to the rival LA Dodgers, which built a big league roster mainly on inside prospects and one-year contracts without major signings. Rather, it is only one game away from the Colorado Rockies, who were considered the lowest candidates before the opening. Now, instead of winning, I’m worried about falling to the bottom.