Braves Determine Rehab Assignment Plan for Ha-Seong Kim

The Atlanta Braves are a step closer to getting Ha-Seong Kim back in the lineup. He will start his rehab assignment this week, heading down to play for Double-A Columbus.

The Clingstones have Monday off, which is the norm for the minor league schedule. They start a home series against the Montgomery Biscuits on Tuesday.

Other rehabbing players, such as Spencer Strider and Sean Murphy, were with Triple-A Gwinnett this past week. However, the Stripers go on the road to Charlotte, and the Braves opted to have Kim play for an affiliate playing at home.

It’s a similar situation to what the Braves did to start with Strider and Murphy. When Gwinnett was on the road, they opted to send them to High-A Rome for the first week.

Gwinnett will be on the road for the next two weeks, and the Clingstones will go back on the road next week. High-A Rome will also be away. We’ll see how the Braves choose to approach Kim’s rehab. He may only need the week before he returns in early May, but that is to be determined.

Worst-case scenario, if they feel Kim isn’t ready yet, he can travel with the Clingstones to Biloxi, Miss, or Asheville, NC. Going on the road isn’t entirely unprecedented. Chris Sale pitched in Memphis last year during his rehab assignment with Gwinnett.

It still seems unlikely, since it would indicate that he needs more than a week.

Kim is working his way back from a right middle finger injury that required surgery. He’s on a quicker track than initially expected. At the time of the injury, he was expected to be out until June.

Back in December, the Braves re-signed Ha-Seong Kim to a one-year, $20 million contract. He had turned down his $16 million player option for the upcoming season. So, the move netted him a modest pay bump for the season.

In an interview with his agent, Scott Boras, he affirmed that Kim had a lot to like about the Braves. One of them was related to manager Walt Weiss.

"Walt Weiss is a really good infield coach," he said during the Winter Meetings. "And I think that anybody who enjoys defense would enjoy Walt."

In 24 games, he batted .253 with a .684 OPS, three home runs and 12 RBIs. Both of the counting totals were more than what he had with Tampa Bay. Before he went hitless over the final series of the season, Kim was batting .289 with a .770 OPS. His performance was stronger than the overall numbers suggest.

The Braves haven’t been pressed for production at the shortstop position in Kim’s absence. Mauricio Dubón has stepped up in the role nicely. He’s batting .283 with a .764 OPS. However, those numbers have been starting to come back down to earth as of late.

It’s still a testament to the Braves’ efforts to bolster the bench over the offseason. It bought them time in case of an injury.

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