Padres’ Ha-Seong Kim drops honest injury admission

San Diego Padres infielder Ha-Seong Kim is hoping to return from his shoulder injury soon. However, Kim admitted that his injury recovery is “taking a little longer” than expected, per Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Kim was placed on the 10-day injured list in late August. The Padres are hoping the 28-year-old can return soon but his timeline is uncertain at the moment.

Kim is slashing .233/.330/.370/.700 so far during the 2024 season. He has appeared in 121 games and has hit 11 home runs and stolen 22 bases during that span. The versatile infielder finished 14th in National League MVP voting in 2023. Additionally, he won an NL Gold Glove Award.

When healthy, Kim is one of the better players in the sport. The Padres are unquestionably a better team with him on the field.

Padres’ current standings placement

The Padres will host the Detroit Tigers on Thursday night. San Diego has quietly stayed afloat in the NL West. The Los Angeles Dodgers were expected to cruise to a division win in 2024, yet they are only 4.5 games in front of the Padres as of this story’s writing.

San Diego currently holds the top NL Wild Card spot. They are one game ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks for the position. Barring a collapse, the Padres should have a good opportunity to at least reach the postseason as an NL Wild Card ball club.

San Diego started the 2024 season slow but they have picked things up as of late. They utilized an 18-10 record during the month of August to climb the standings. The Padres also finished with a respectable 13-9 record in July, which was the month they started to make noise in the standings.

San Diego will look to take care of business on Thursday night at Petco Park against the Tigers. First pitch is scheduled for 8:40 PM EST.

As for Ha-Seong Kim, the Padres will continue to provide updates on his status as they are made available.