Major League Baseball’s (MLB) San Diego Padres’ Ha Sung Kim, 28, received a disappointing report card in the midterm All-Star fan voting.
Kim finished ninth among National League 안전놀이터 second basemen with 82,879 votes in the first round of All-Star fan voting, as reported by MLB.com on Wednesday.
Luis Arajuez (Miami Marlins), who is on pace to bat .400 this season, topped the National League second baseman category with 509,092 votes, followed by A.J. Albies (Atlanta Braves) and Nolan Gorman (St. Louis Cardinals).
While Kim’s offensive numbers are less competitive than those at the top of the ballot, his defensive numbers are overwhelmingly superior. His 1.9 defensive WAR per Baseball Reference is the best in both leagues. His combined offensive WAR of 3.0 is sixth in the National League and fifth among second basemen.
However, this is something that seems to be overlooked in fan voting. Given that fan voting is a de facto popularity contest, his lack of recognition compared to other players and his team’s poor record, which is fourth in the National League, are likely factors.
Meanwhile, the top vote-getter in the National League was Atlanta outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. He received 1,086,537 votes, the only player in either league to surpass 1 million votes. Acuna Jr. is batting .331 with 13 home runs, 37 RBIs, 56 runs scored, 28 doubles, and a district-leading 0.965 OPS this season.
In the American League, Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels received the most votes. He took a commanding lead in the designated hitter category with 944,182 votes. Ohtani is batting .287 with 18 home runs, 46 RBIs, nine doubles, and a .930 OPS this season.
The top two players at each position in the All-Star Fan Vote will advance to the second round of voting, and the players with the most votes in each league in the first round of voting will be selected to play in the All-Star Game regardless of the second round of voting. The first round of fan voting closes on July 23.
This year’s MLB All-Star Game will be played on July 12 at Seattle’s home stadium, T-Mobile Park.