(LEAD) Padres’ Kim Ha-seong lands on injured list for 1st time

Kim Ha-seong of the San Diego Padres has hit the injured list (IL) for the first time in his major league career. The Padres placed Kim on the 10-day IL with right shoulder inflammation on Tuesday (U.S. local time). The move is retroactive to Monday. Kim jammed his right shoulder in a dive back to first base on a pickoff attempt during a road game Sunday against the Colorado Rockies. In this Getty Images photo, Kim Ha-seong of the San Diego Padres (C) walks off the field with a shoulder injury after sliding to first base on a pickoff attempt during a Major League Baseball regular-season game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver on Aug. 18, 2024. (Yonhap) In this Getty Images photo, Kim Ha-seong of the San Diego Padres (C) walks off the field with a shoulder injury after sliding to first base on a pickoff attempt during a Major League Baseball regular-season game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver on Aug. 18, 2024. (Yonhap) Kim signed with the Padres out of the Korea Ba seball Organization before the 2021 season and had never been on the IL until now. He played a career-high 152 games last season and has 121 games under his belt this year with 36 games to go before the Padres faced the Minnesota Twins in San Diego on Tuesday. "Maybe the 10-day would be the better decision, considering the fact that we're in the postseason and the wild card race, and we, as a team, have a goal of reaching the World Series," Kim was quoted as saying on MLB.com, through his interpreter David Lee. "So in order to come back to my fullest 100%, this 10-day IL makes sense to me." The Padres began the day at 71-55, holding down the top wild card spot in the National League (NL) and sitting three games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for the top spot in the NL West. The Padres are hoping Kim won't miss any time beyond the requisite 10 days on the sidelines. Manager Mike Shildt said the team thought Kim could have avoided an IL stint and be back in action within 10 days, before deciding not to rush him back. Kim is batting .233/.330/.370 this season with 11 home runs, 47 RBIs and 22 steals. In Kim's absence, Tyler Wade started at shortstop Monday and was back in the lineup for Tuesday's game. He has been Kim's backup for most of the season and has played five different positions on the field. At the plate, though, Wade is a big downgrade from Kim, with zero homers and a .563 on-base plus slugging in 73 games prior to Tuesday. The Padres have other infielders with experience at shortstop in Xander Bogaerts and Jake Cronenworth. Source: Yonhap News Agency