What do you expect out of Ha-Seong Kim?

"Those 90 PAs have not been inspiring: a 72 wRC+ and a .289 xwOBA. He's also not played particularly well at short, but it's a tiny sample so there's not much point in even taking it into serious account. One thing I'll note is that looking at his actual lines, his issues at the plate appear rust-related rather than oomph-related."

"While Kim has always been a slappy guy who isn't trying to murder the ball, his swing speed, such as it is, is actually somewhat faster than it has been pre-injury, and his xwOBACON and such are comparable. The bigger issues are swing decisions, especially a clearly-small-sample-and-will-resolve-itself meatball swing rate of about 40 percent, compared to his career two-in-three rate (league average is three-in-four)."

Ha-Seong Kim underwent shoulder surgery in the offseason, returned to MLB action on August 1, and then suffered lower back inflammation, producing only about 90 plate appearances in 2025. Those 90 PAs produced a 72 wRC+ and a .289 xwOBA, signaling poor results in a very small sample. Swing speed is somewhat higher than pre-injury and underlying metrics like xwOBACON remain comparable, but swing decision issues and an elevated meatball swing rate (about 40%) drove the poor outcomes. Defensive performance and fit within Atlanta's lineup remain uncertain. A central projection around 2.0–2.5 fWAR accounts for health and effectiveness risk.

Read at Battery Power