Kim Ha-seong of the San Diego Padres has reached double digits in home runs for the third straight season.
Kim smacked his 10th home run of the season against the Milwaukee Brewers at Petco Park in San Diego on Saturday (local time).
With the Padres up 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Kim hit a solo shot off Brewers starter Carlos Rodriguez. He sent an 83.2-mph slider into the seats in left field. The ball left Kim’s bat at 97.5 mph and traveled 374 feet.
Kim became the second South Korean player in the majors to hit at least 10 home runs in three straight seasons, joining former big leaguer Choo Shin-soo (2008-2010, 2012-2015, and 2017-2019).
With 46 career home runs, Kim is now tied for third place all time among South Korean players with former Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Kang Jung-ho. Veteran Choi Ji-man is in second place with 67 homers, and Choo owns the record with 218.
Kim had 11 homers in 2022, his second big league season, and then launched 17 homers last year.
Kim added a single in t
he seventh inning and finished the day 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI. He is batting .220 with an on-base plus slugging (OPS) of .721.
The homer was Kim’s first since June 8. He is batting .231 this month with an .800 OPS.
The Padres won 6-4 to stretch their winning streak to four games.
Source: Yonhap News Agency