Ha-Seong

Kim

Kim played seven innings at shortstop in his latest rehab contest, his first at the Triple-A level, after getting a couple games under his belt in the lower minors. He should be ready to make his season debut by mid-May after getting a few more games in this week.

Kim played his first game of the season at Double-A Columbus on Wednesday and will now move up a level. He did not get any spring training after tearing a tendon in his finger in the offseason, so he will likely need at least a week at Triple-A before potentially joining Atlanta.

Kim played five innings at shortstop in his rehab debut and is going to need at least a week or two of game action to get back up to speed before he’s ready to make his season debut. The 30-year-old middle infielder has been on the shelf recovering from a torn tendon in his right middle finger that he suffered while falling on a patch of ice during the offseason.

Kim has been sidelined since the winter with a torn tendon in his middle finger, so he will need a long ramp-up. The Double-A team plays six games this week, so Kim could stay with them the whole week before moving up to Triple-A. If all goes well, he could be in Atlanta by the middle of May.

Kim is expected to be sidelined until at least early May after tearing a tendon in his right middle finger back in January. The 30-year-old infielder signed a one-year, $20 million contract last December to take over as Atlanta’s starting shortstop this season.

Kim is still not able to swing a bat, but he is able to do some fielding drills and conditioning. His original return timeline was early May, but he would not confirm that he is on track for the date. He simply said he would do his best to return as soon as possible. Once he can begin swinging a bat, we’ll have a much better idea of how close he is to returning.

Kim tore a tendon in his right middle finger in January, and the initial prognosis is that he would be out for four-to-five months. This would put him on schedule or slightly ahead of it. He has not yet started hitting, and we don’t know what the injury will do to his power production, so he is still be left undrafted in all redraft formats.

Mark Bowman of MLB.com adds that Kim suffered the injury when he fell on ice while in Korea. He underwent surgery in Atlanta on Sunday to repair the injury. That means the slick-fielding 30-year-old won’t be available to help out the Braves until the end of May at the earliest estimate. In the meantime, the Braves are likely to slot in Mauricio Dubón as their starting shortstop.

Kim would have been guaranteed just $48 million, though bonuses probably would have pushed his salaries higher. It’s interesting that the A’s were willing to make such a commitment to a middle infielder, given that Jacob Wilson is locked in and top prospect Leo De Vries, the primary return in the Mason Miller trade, might be ready in 2027. Still, the A’s probably ought to commit at least a one-year deal to a starter at second or third. Right now, they have Zack Gelof, Max Muncy, Max Schuemann, Darell Hernaiz, Brett Harris and Michael Stefanic as possibilities at those two spots.

The deal is official. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that Kim turned down multi-year offers elsewhere to return to Atlanta, where he’ll serve as the club’s starting shortstop — pushing versatile Mauricio Dubón to a utility role — before re-entering free agency next winter in pursuit of a larger payday. The 30-year-old middle infielder, who turned down a $16 million player option last month to hit the open market, posted an underwhelming .234/.304/.345 slash line with five homers and six steals across 191 plate appearances split between the Rays and Braves this past season after working his way back from offseason shoulder surgery. From a career-arc standpoint, Atlanta represents about as clean a runway as Kim could ask for to rebuild long-term value, offering everyday reps on a competitive roster without the immediate pressure of a long-term commitment. From a fantasy perspective, though, the bar at shortstop remains high enough that he profiles as more of a deeper mixed-league option with power/speed combo ceiling upside heading into next spring.