Padres' Kim Ha-seong smacks 10th homer of season

Kim Ha-seong of the San Diego Padres has reached double figures in home runs for the second straight season.

Kim smoked his 10th home run of the 2023 season against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Sunday, though it came in a 4-3 loss for the Padres.

Batting leadoff, Kim went 1-for-3 with that home run, an RBI, a run scored and a walk.

Kim's line drive home run, which left his bat at 19 degrees, cut the Padres' deficit to 2-1 in the top of the eighth inning. The Padres soon tied the score at 2-2 as Fernando Tatis Jr. followed Kim with a solo shot of his own, but the Reds responded with a two-run homer by Tyler Stephenson in the bottom of the inning. The Padres got a run back in the ninth before losing by a run.

For the year, Kim is batting .258/.346/.418 with 10 homers, 31 RBIs and a career-best 13 steals in 80 games.

In 2022, his second season in the majors, Kim had 11 home runs, 59 RBIs and 12 steals in 150 games. He is the fifth South Korean player to hit at least 10 homers in consecutive seasons.

Kim is also one of 19 players in the majors with at least 10 home runs and 10 steals.

Kim has been on fire of late, with five home runs coming in his past 10 games. He has also put together another excellent defensive season, this time at second base, and has been generating some early Gold Glove buzz.

Last year, Kim was a finalist for the Gold Glove at shortstop. (Yonhap)