“Let’s keep our minds straight” 443 billion won third baseman Ilgal… Kim Ha-seong dreams of ‘Autumn War’ again
“Let’s keep our heads up.”
That’s what San Diego Padres slugger Manny Machado, 31, told his players after the first half. In addition to being the centerpiece of an 11-year, $350 million contract, Machado is also a locker room leader. He publicly called for his teammates to step up in the second half.
MLB.com reported on Machado’s comments on Thursday (July 14) and looked ahead to San Diego’s second half. Once again, San Diego’s first half has been characterized by the underperformance of its big-name stars. Machado is no exception. Xander Bogaerts hasn’t lived up to his name either. Fernando Tatis Jr. and Juan Soto split the first half, but the Padres are 43-47, fourth in the National League West and sixth in the National League wild-card race. They are six games behind the third-place San Francisco Giants.
It’s not an easy six games to overcome, but they’re not ready to give up. “People need to rest,” Machado said. Our players can enjoy a few days off and wake up a little bit. But in the second half, we have to keep our heads up. It’s not going to be easy. We have to prepare properly.”
MLB.com wrote that San Diego showed in the first half that star power isn’t everything, citing weaknesses in the bottom of the order, bench, back of the lineup, and bullpen depth. The Dodgers could use some reinforcements in the trade market with two months to go. Josh Hader has already been traded.
In the first half, Kim hit .258 with 71 doubles, 10 home runs, 31 RBI, 44 runs scored, 16 stolen bases, a .349 on-base percentage, a .411 slugging percentage, and a .760 OPS in 85 games. His defense was near-perfect, ranking first among all major league second basemen in DRS and OAA.온라인카지노
San Diego will play the Los Angeles Dodgers in Seoul on March 21 and 22 next year for the official opening two-game series of the 2024 season. This completely eliminates the possibility of a trade for Kim. In the second half of the season, he’ll be tasked with providing the same energy in the offense as he did in the first half. If he can be more productive on offense, that would be great. It remains to be seen if he can surpass 20 steals for the first time in his career and challenge for 30.
Kim will be looking to return to the postseason for the second straight year in 2022. If he can help his team mount a late-season comeback and lead them to the postseason, he’ll be even more valuable. Of course, he won’t do it alone. As Machado said, San Diego will need a lot of work from now on.