Hyeseong Kim Erupts for 5 Hits in Second Triple-A Oklahoma City Start

Two days after the Dodgers made him the last cut of spring training, Hyeseong Kim walked into Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark on Saturday night and went 5-for-5 with four runs scored against the Albuquerque Isotopes, delivering the finest single-game performance of his U.S. career in a 13-6 Oklahoma City rout.

The five hits surpassed his previous American high of four, set last May 31 against the New York Yankees. Kim collected four singles and a double, went 2-for-2 against left-handed pitching, and was the engine of an offense that scored in five separate innings. The message to the organization that optioned him just 48 hours earlier was hard to miss.

Kim set the tone from the first at-bat, leading off with a single. In the third, he singled again and scored when James Tibbs III tripled him home. His run-scoring double in the fourth pulled Oklahoma City within one, and Tibbs immediately followed with a double of his own to swing the game's momentum. Kim singled again in the sixth and scored in a three-run inning that pushed the Comets in front 9-6, then came up once more in the eighth, singled, moved to third on yet another Tibbs double, and scored on a balk as Oklahoma City put the game away for good.

Tibbs was nearly as damaging, finishing 4-for-5 with a triple, two doubles, three runs, and three RBI. Ryan Fitzgerald drove in six. But Kim's performance carried a different kind of weight given the context surrounding his demotion.

The Dodgers chose Alex Freeland over Kim for the final bench spot on Opening Day, a decision Dodgers manager Dave Roberts tied partly to Kim's swing looking "out of sync" during the World Baseball Classic. Kim had been sharp in spring training before the WBC derailed his timing, and the Dodgers ultimately preferred Freeland despite Kim's superior spring numbers. Kim hit .280/.314/.385 across 170 plate appearances in a bench role for Los Angeles last season, handling second base, shortstop, and center field.

That defensive versatility is exactly what Oklahoma City is leaning on. The Comets are deploying Kim across all three of those positions as the organization asks him to retool his swing toward a simpler, more repeatable motion. His contact quality Saturday night, including going back-to-back against southpaws for his double, suggested the mechanical cleanup work is already taking hold in game conditions, not just in the cage.

The call-up math is fairly straightforward if this holds. Tommy Edman, who would otherwise be the primary second base option, is sidelined to begin the season with right ankle surgery. Freeland, Espinal, and Miguel Rojas are sharing the middle infield workload in the meantime. Roberts said before the season he expected to see Kim back in Los Angeles "sooner than later." A 5-for-5 night to open the Triple-A calendar does not slow that timeline.