What Dodgers Choosing Hyeseong Kim Over Alex Freeland Really Reveals

The Los Angeles Dodgers have been a subpar offensive team since the calendar turned to May, no matter how you slice it.

They're a below-average team according to FanGraphs' offensive component of Wins Above Replacement. They're 4-5 this month in the standings, having outscored opponents 36-33.

It's a small margin, and hardly reason to panic, but it goes a long way toward explaining why Hyeseong Kim — not Alex Freeland — is keeping his roster spot when Mookie Betts gets activated from the injured list ahead of the Dodgers' series against the San Francisco Giants.

Kim is slashing .289/.353/.395, Freeland .235/.309/.337. Both players can handle the two middle infield positions. Both bat left-handed (Freeland is a switch-hitter, but the Dodgers much prefer him as a lefty). Both made their big-league debuts last year, when Freeland was 23 and Kim 26.

But in the last year, Kim has taken a meaningful step forward at the plate, a change that goes beyond his slash line.

Kim is fast enough that he can beat out the occasional ground ball — particularly in his native Korea, where the fielding isn't always as adept as MLB. When he debuted last season, his 52.3% ground-ball rate was easily the highest on the Dodgers, and among the highest of any big leaguer with at least 100 plate appearances.

A ground-ball heavy approach is notoriously difficult to sustain in the major leagues. Kim is never going to be a slugger, but lifting the ball in the air more often could only help.

Despite showing signs of improvement in spring training (he hit .407 with one home run), Kim was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City to begin the season. It was a controversial move at the time, but his projected playing time justified it.

On a team of sluggers, the Dodgers could afford to prioritize defense from their left-handed hitting backup infielder. Freeland, an adept fielder, didn't have to out-hit Kim to justify his roster spot. He just had to hold his own at the plate and play solid defense.

A funny thing happened along the way: the Dodgers' sluggers stopped slugging. The bottom of the lineup — Andy Pages, Max Muncy, Dalton Rushing — started hitting better than the top. That included Kim, who's been measurably better at hitting the ball in the air.

Kim's ground ball rate has fallen to 44.1% (remarkably, lower than even Shohei Ohtani's 45.1%). Meanwhile, Freeland's has risen to 51.5%. Their respective launch angles tell the same story. Freeland's has fallen from 20.7 in 2025 to 7.1 in 2026. Kim's has risen from 7.0 to 11.3.

Perhaps the Dodgers wanted to give Freeland, a still-developing prospect at 24 years old, some time to figure it out offensively and keep his confidence high. Unfortunately for him, that's a luxury they can no longer afford.

“I think that he’s done a much better job of controlling the strike zone,” Roberts said Sunday of Kim. “I think that’s something that we felt he could be exposed by balls at the top, spin down below. He’s done a much better job of managing that, I think, so that’s probably the biggest thing.

“He’s got the ability to put the bat on the ball, get hits, steal bases, play good defense. And I think he’s done all that. I think for me, just the plate discipline piece has been much better.”

The Dodgers need plus hitters at every position now. If Kim keeps this up, he won't be the last guy on the bench. He'll be the everyday second baseman against right-handed pitchers.

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