He’s now in a position to be mentioned as the best second baseman in the league. The voting results prove it.
On Thursday, MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball, released the results of its mock All-MLB Team 2023 voting.
The All-MLB Team is an award established by Major League Baseball in 2019 to recognize the best player at each position for the season based on overall performance.
The award is divided into a first team and a second team, and the first Korean major leaguer to be honored was Ryu Hyun-jin, 36, of the Toronto Blue Jays, who was named to the second team for the second consecutive year in 2019 and 2020. Can a Korean major leaguer make the All-MLB team this year?
Of course, it’s not easy. While the San Diego Padres’ Kim “Awesome Kim” Ha-seong, 28, has been on a hot streak lately, with a 16-game hitting streak – tied for the most by a Korean player in history – and 15 multi-hit games – tied for the most by an Asian major leaguer – it’s hard to see him winning All-MLB second team honors, even though he’s batting .286 with a .381 on-base percentage and .449 slugging percentage, along with 15 home runs, 42 RBIs, and 27 stolen bases.
However, a mock poll has revealed that Kim has also received votes, so it will be interesting to see what happens. Today, MLB.com released the results of its 2023 All-MLB Team mock poll, which revealed that Kim also received votes.
The mock poll was conducted by nine MLB.com writers, and it’s unclear exactly how many votes Kim received, but it’s encouraging to see him on the ballot. It means that he is now being considered as one of the best second basemen in the league.
The top vote-getter in the second base category of the virtual All-MLB team, as selected by MLB.com writers, was Luis Arajuez of the Miami Marlins, who was named to the first team. Arajuez has been generating a lot of buzz since the beginning of the season as he chases the “dream” .400 batting average. While he’s now down to a .367 batting average for the season, his chances of hitting .400 are slim, but there’s no denying that he’s one of the league’s best second basemen. This season, he’s batting .367 with a .411 on-base percentage, .467 slugging percentage, four home runs and 57 RBIs, and he’s still leading the entire major leagues in hitting.
Second team honors went to Texas Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien. Semien is batting .281 with a .352 on-base percentage, .464 slugging percentage, 18 home runs, 72 RBIs, and 10 doubles this year, and recently surpassed the 200-homer mark for his career. He now has 204 career home runs. In 2021, while still with Toronto, he exploded for 45 home runs, setting a new record for most home runs in a single season by a second baseman in history. These performances earned him a huge deal in free agency, signing a seven-year, $175 million contract with Texas.
“Arajuez has been a player to watch for his near-perfect on-base percentage,” said MLB.com, “His .878 OPS is a career high and he’s on pace for his first 200-hit season.” “Texas has a potent lineup that has led them to first place in the American League West, and Semien is at the center of it with Corey Seager. While he hasn’t duplicated his 2021 season, when he hit 45 home runs and led all second basemen, Semien remains one of the best second basemen in baseball.”
In addition to Arajuez and Semien, Kim Ha-seong and the Philadelphia Phillies’ Bryson Stott received votes in the second base category, MLB.com reported. Stott made his major league debut last year and has quickly established himself as the Phillies’ primary second baseman, batting .297 with a .342 on-base percentage and .438 slugging percentage this year, along with 11 home runs, 47 RBIs and 22 stolen bases.
Who knows, maybe Kim will be the hero of a “last-minute comeback. Already known for his defense, which leads the National League in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) at 2.0 per Baseball Reference, Kim is batting .337 in July with a .449 on-base percentage and a . 551 with five home runs, nine RBIs, and eight stolen bases, and he followed that up in August with a .341 batting average, .431 on-base percentage, and .455 slugging percentage with one home run, three RBIs, and six stolen bases, so if he keeps this up, he could finish the year as the best second baseman in the league.온라인바카
Last year, Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros was named to the First Team, while Andres Jimenez of the Cleveland Indians was named to the Second Team. Altuve batted .300 with a .387 on-base percentage and .533 slugging percentage last year, along with 28 home runs, 57 RBIs and 18 doubles. This year, he’s batting .314 with a .413 on-base percentage and .535 slugging percentage, along with nine home runs, 27 RBI and 11 doubles. Jimenez batted .297 with a .371 on-base percentage and .466 slugging percentage last season with 17 home runs, 69 RBIs, and 20 doubles, but this year he is batting .246 with a .318 on-base percentage and .398 slugging percentage with 11 home runs, 45 RBIs, and 20 doubles.