Kim Ha-seong is first Korean to win MLB Gold Glove

Kim Ha-seong of the San Diego Padres became the first Korean player ever to win an MLB Gold Glove on Sunday. Kim won the National League Gold Glove for the utility spot. He was also nominated at second base, but lost out to Nico Hoerner of the Cubs

San Diego Padres third baseman Kim Ha-seong throws out San Francisco Giants' Patrick Bailey at first base during the second inning of a game in San Francisco on Sept. 25. [AP/YONHAP]

Kim Ha-seong of the San Diego Padres became the first Korean player ever to win an MLB Gold Glove on Sunday.

Kim won the National League Gold Glove for the utility spot, beating out competition from Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tommy Edman of the St. Louis Cardinals. He was also nominated at second base, but lost out to Nico Hoerner of the Chicago Cubs.

Kim is the second Korean to be a finalist for a Gold Glove, after Choo Shin-soo in right field in 2012, and the only Korean ever to win one. He was also nominated at shortstop last season.

That also makes Kim the only player to win both the MLB Gold Glove and the KBO Golden Glove — the KBO's version of the award that focuses more on offensive performance than defense — which he won three times from 2018 through 2020 as a shortstop when he played for the Kiwoom Heroes.

Kim shone in the 2023 season, finishing among the league leaders with +10 outs above average (OAA), which is a range-based metric of skill that shows how many outs a player has saved. He also managed +7 OAA as a second baseman.

Kim combined for 16 defensive runs saved, 10 at second, and three each at third and short. He played 106 games at second base, 32 at third and 20 at shortstop this season.

Gold Glove winners are decided by votes from 30 MLB managers and up to six coaches from each team. They vote from a pool of players in their league, excluding players from their own team, according to the MLB.

The votes accounted for 75 percent of the selection, while the remaining 25 percent came from the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) Defensive Index counting — used to help select the Gold Glove winners since 2013.

Kim joined the Padres on Dec. 31, 2020 on a four-year deal worth $28 million.

Despite being an offensive powerhouse in the KBO, Kim’s first two seasons in the big leagues were defined more by his defensive prowess than his hitting ability. That continued this season, and the Gold Glove recognizes that defensive prowess, but Kim also had the best season of his big league career at the plate.

Kim ended the season with a .260 batting average, 140 hits, 60 RBIs and 17 home runs — including a grand slam on Aug. 21 — beating his MLB best in every single one of those categories. He also stole 38 bases, ranking fifth in the National League for bases stolen.

Kim returned to Korea last month for the start of the offseason, his season ending early when the Padres failed to make it to the playoffs. He will likely stay here for the majority of the offseason, before the Padres begin their spring training in Arizona in mid-February next year.

Kim will then get the chance to return to Korea in March as the Dodgers and Padres are set to face off in Seoul on March 20 and 21 in the official opening series of the 2024 major league season.

The two-game series will mark the first time that MLB regular season games have ever been played in Korea.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]