Ha-Seong Kim Opens Up About Injury, Recovery with Braves

A familiar sight was made in the Atlanta Braves clubhouse Monday morning. Ha-Seong Kim was spotted back with the team. When asked about his timeline, he wouldn’t give one. However, the expectation remains that he will be back sometime in May.

Kim didn’t express any concerns about this becoming a nagging injury. It’s a genuine concern, given his extensive recent injury history.

“I was told that with rehab, you could fully recover from this,” he said via a translator and MLB.com. “So, I’m trying to stay in a positive mindset. We have every day to do my part to get back on the field as soon as possible.”

Kim underwent surgery in mid-January to repair a tendon in his right middle finger. He slipped on the ice on the street, and he immediately knew something wasn’t right.

“It’s frustrating because I missed a lot of time with the shoulder injury as well.”

He apologized to the team for not being able to be there. He said his goal was to get back as fast as he could. Coming down to North Port would help him work on restrengthening his hand and resuming baseball-specific activities. He’s not swinging a bat yet, but he’s doing some infield drills.

His initial timeline was four to five months, meaning he may not be back until June. However, he’s considered to be progressing well enough that he’ll be back on the earlier end.

The Braves re-signed him over the offseason to a one-year, $20 million contract. He had turned down his $16 million player option for 2026, netting himself a bump in his average annual value.

He was initially acquired off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays back in September. He had been battling injuries for most of the season, and the Rays had decided that it was time to move on. Once he arrived in Atlanta, he had a taste of truly being healthy for the first time all season.

He saw action in 24 games, the same number he had seen with the Rays. He batted .253 with a .684 OPS, three home runs and 12 RBIs. Before he went hitless during the three-game season finale against the Pirates, he was batting .289 with a .770 OPS.

It was the first time all season that they were getting any serious production from a shortstop. Kim’s three home runs were the only ones hit by shortstops that season. His 12 RBIs were about 30% of all runs batted in by players at that position. Keep in mind, he played in about 15% of regular-season games.

It made it a nice plus that they were able to get it back, and that he wanted to be back. It’s where he started to feel comfortable physically again and arguably mentally.

“Obviously, my teammates, the coaching staff, the front office all embraced me when I first came last September, so a lot of those factors allowed it to be an easy decision.”

However, getting that production will have to wait. Even without Kim, the Braves are still in a better position regarding shortstop. Mauricio Dubón should provide a boost, and Jorge Mateo brings veteran experience, too. In a way, it’s an improvement by default, but the Braves had nowhere to go but up.

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