Braves SS Ha-Seong Kim Off to Strong Start During Rehab Assignment

Ha-Seong Kim has given the Atlanta Braves an encouraging start to his rehab assignment with Double-A Columbus. He has four games under his belt so far, batting .333 with an OPS .871 and a stolen base.

In his latest game on Sunday, he went 1-for-4 with a walk, giving him a base hit in three of four games so far.

Kim saw action on Sunday as a designated hitter. As he ramps back up, it gives him a chance to get more at-bats. When he's in the field, he's been exiting the game early as if he were in spring training. He's conditioning slowly to play more of the game.

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 hard-pressed for offensive production the way they had been just a season ago. They've scored the most runs (194), have the best team OPS in baseball (.794) and are second behind the New York Yankees in home runs (48). However, a little extra spark never hurts.

In the meantime, Mauricio Dubón and Jorge Mateo have been producing for the Braves from the shortstop position. With all that has gone wrong for the Braves this season from a health perspective, they've been able to ride it out due to the effrots made to improve the bench.

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