Kim Ha-sung, the first infield GG winner 'Dark Cloud'

There is an obstacle to Kim Ha-sung (28, San Diego Padres), the "master of defense,"'s challenge to win the Gold Glove award. Another defense-related award fell through.

Sports Info Solutions (SIS), a major league data analysis company, announced the winner of the Fielding Bible Awards on the 27th , but Kim Ha-sung did not make the list.

The Fielding Bible Awards is an event that began in 2006 and is awarded to the best defenders in each big league position. Unlike Gold Glove, only one player is selected per position, combining the American League and the National League, reflecting the voter's vote, but also referring to the Saber Matrix figures.

Kim Ha-sung's main position fell to fifth place in second base. The winner was Andres Jimenez of the Cleveland Guardians, while Marcus Simion (Texas), Nico Horner (Chicago Cubs) and Bryce Statt (Philadelphia) were selected in turn from second to fourth. In addition, Kim Ha-sung was not listed in the top five in the utility player category, where he was nominated for Gold Glove.

Of course, it is difficult to conclude that the votes of the Fielding Bible Awards and Gold Glove do not completely overlap, so it has a significant impact on the outcome of the award. In addition, Gold Glove is expected to rise further as the league is divided. However, it is somewhat regrettable that they lost to Horner and Start in the same National League. As a result, there was a dark cloud over Kim Ha-sung's possibility of winning the award.

Kim Ha-sung was named in the second baseman and utility player categories in the final nomination for each 2023 Gold Glove category announced by Gold Glove organizer Rawlings on the 19th. He was nominated for the second consecutive year following last year's shortstop. Last season, he recorded a defensive index SDI of 7.6 developed by the American Baseball Research Association (SABR), the standard of Gold Glove's defense index, ranking fourth among National League shortstop, only 0.1 difference from Dansby Swanson (Atlanta at the time), but gave Swanson an award.

Kim Ha-sung, who moved to second base this year with the recruitment of veteran shortstop Xander Bogaerts, played an active role in a rather unfamiliar position with not much experience in the professional field. Kim Ha-sung showed an excellent defense above average by scoring +7 in the game as a second baseman in OAA (Outs Above Average, 0 is average), the latest defensive indicator through Statcast. The last SDI figure released this year (August 14) was 8.3, ranking first overall in the Major League Baseball's second baseman and seventh overall in all positions.

In particular, it is positive that the recognition, which was somewhat lacking last year, has risen this year. Kim Ha-sung once became the talk of the town as he ranked first in the fielders category in the baseball statistics site Baseball Reference's WAR (contributing to victory over alternative players) rankings until his record fell due to sluggishness (0.176, OPS 0.471) since September. He also became a top player in the league, ranking seventh among all fielders in the National League with a final record of 5.8. He was once named as a candidate for the National League MVP.

In September, the U.S. media Baseball America (BA) voted to select the best player in the Major League in the 2023 season for Major League managers, scouts, and management, and Kim Ha-sung topped the National League second baseman category. As such, Kim Ha-sung is recognized at least for defense in the league.

There were also supportive shots from teammates. According to the U.S. media The Athletic, San Diego third baseman Manny Machado said, "Sometimes the prize tends to go to certain people because of what they've done in the past, not the number," and cheered, "This year will definitely be Kim Ha-sung's year." Former coach Bob Melvin (current San Francisco coach), who took the helm this season, also said, "Kim Ha-sung is a truly amazing player. "I'm a familiar player as a shortstop, but now I look like a gold glove player at second base," he praised.

The Gold Glove final winners will be announced on November 6 at the Sunday Baseball section of American media ESPN. If Kim Ha-sung wins the Gold Glove, he will be the first in Korea and the second Asian player after Ichiro Suzuki (50). Japan has never produced a Gold Glove winner other than Ichiro, so Kim Ha-sung will be honored as the first Asian infielder to win a Gold Glove.

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