Hyun Soo Kim's 2016 Handed Splits
| Split | PA | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vs RHP | 323 | .321 | .393 | .446 | .839 |
| vs LHP | 22 | .000 | .227 | .000 | .227 |
Kim's splits in the majors look terrible. He was hitless in 22 plate appearances with four walks. That said, what are 22 PA? Why limit him to those appearances to begin with. Certainly, it has nothing to do with Spring Training because then he could hit no one. Well, what about his splits in Korea?
Hyun Soo Kim's 2014/2015 KBO Splits
| Metric | 2014-L | 2014-R | 2015-L | 2015-R |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PA | 182 | 345 | 190 | 425 |
| BB-K | 22-17 | 31-28 | 27-16 | 72-44 |
| AVG | .374 | .296 | .331 | .327 |
| OBP | .456 | .365 | .421 | .449 |
| SLG | .497 | .485 | .510 | .564 |
Against left handed pitching in the KBO, the KANG model thinks Kim should slash 278/333/408.
Against right handed pitching in the KBO, the KANG model thinks Kim should slash 276/342/468.
His season against right handed pitching in the Majors in general was well predicted by KANG, but not amongst the components. Kim's hit tool wound up being louder and his power tool was quieter. If that held true for hitting against left handers, then we would expect him to be more of singles hitter without the gap power he showed with righthanders. That would probably make him a very unusual hitter if he was actually successful against lefties. He would be a not-too-fast singles slapping corner outfielder who would notch a decent walk rate, which looks like late stage Markakis.
In the end, if you have a hitter like Joey Rickard who can hit left handers well and a full time right fielder, then it makes sense to platoon with Kim. However, moving forward, the Orioles should consider that Kim can potentially be a full time player and should experience a greater share of southpaws. The proof will be in the pudding and the Orioles are still at the grocery store making assumptions from the box.
(Thanks to Sung Min Kim of Today's Knuckleball for providing me with Kim's splits data in the KBO.)
5 comments:
Wow, thank you for this. All season long I tried to find Kim's averages from Korea vs. left and right handed pitchers, to no avail. It's nice you were able to dig this up. I suspected Kim hit both lefties and righties equally; now it's nice to have the proof:)
It would be nice to let him take a shot at lefty pitchers more. He could be our version of Mark Grace, but in the outfield. Or something.
What about his atrocious arm and poor defense in left field? He is not an everyday player.
This article, as reflected in the title, is about his hitting.
Nick, the Orioles don't have an everyday player on the roster who is a really good corner outfielder. The O's talked up Joey Rickard as that type of fielder, and maybe he'll showcase those skills soon. But, like Kim, he also rated poorly, at least according to advanced defensive metrics. If you want a really good outfielder and a really good hitter, that's going to cost a lot of money. Fortunately, Kim has at least demonstrated the ability to hit and get on base, and that's still valuable. With the way this roster is constructed, there are only so many options. (I'll also be talking about this next week in my blueprint series post.)
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