Ahead of this season, San Diego signed All-Star shortstop Zander Bogarts to a huge 11-year, $280 million contract. This time, the story of ‘duplicate investment’ came out again.
Even if it was a paving stone with Fernando Tatis Jr.’s outfield transition in mind, San Diego’s shortstop had Ha-seong Kim (28), who showed the league’s best defense last year and raised his offensive production to above the league average. It’s clear that Bogaerts is a good player, but some critics say it’s better to invest the money in the team’s weak spots. Ha-seong Kim’s full-time second base digestion was also an unverified part.
Then, what about the early season of the Keystone안전놀이터 combination formed by Bogatz and Kim Ha-seong? So far, there are signs of success. Bogarts left a strong impression in front of home fans by perfectly performing the task of leading San Diego’s offense at the beginning of the season. Kim Ha-seong, who moved to second base, is still showing stable defense as well as explosive attack power, predicting another upgrade season.
In the first 10 games of the season until the 10th (Korean time), Bogarts had a batting average of 0.324, 3 homers, 8 RBIs, and an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 1.071. Last year’s shortstop Kim Ha-seong seemed to come out of the attack numbers, which were not easy to expect, more easily than expected. The early pace of Kim Ha-seong, who is standing next to him, is also formidable. He has a batting average of 0.281, 2 homers, 4 RBIs and an OPS of 0.937 in 9 games.
The offensive production of the two players is powerful enough to be in the top ranks in both positions as of the 10th. It is rare to find a case in the league where the scoring production of a keystone combination is so excellent at the same time. Here, Kim Ha-seong’s defensive power has been verified, and Bogatz is also showing a relatively stable sense of shortstop defense this year. They are an excellent duo in both offense and defense.
The North American sports media ‘The Athletic’ also analyzed that Bogatz is adapting well to the team, pointing out the keystone combination of the two players as one of San Diego’s strengths on the 11th. The media said, ‘It’s good so far’ about Bogatz’s adaptation, and ‘Bogatz has a weaker shortstop defense than Kim Ha-seong, and Kim Ha-seong also lacks an ideal fit at second base. Still, he gave a positive evaluation, saying that it is a solid central infield combination.
“Bogatz (after joining the team) continues to show that he can do better than average in a short amount of time. Both offensively and inside the clubhouse. (Expectations) Although not exceeding, we are living up to expectations.” The two players will start side by side against Max Scherzer on the 11th against the New York Mets.