The Braves announced this morning that shortstop Ha-Seong Kim has been activated from the injured list. He’s been out all season thus far after suffering a torn tendon in his hand when he fell on some ice in the offseason. Atlanta is off today, but Kim will make his 2026 debut in tomorrow’s game. Outfielder Eli White has been placed on the 7-day concussion list in a corresponding move. White made an outstanding catch to rob the Dodgers’ Max Muncy of a bases-clearing double yesterday but crashed face-first into the right field wall upon making the grab (video link).
The 30-year-old Kim is in his first full season with Atlanta. He finished the 2025 season in a Braves uniform after coming over via an August waiver claim out of the Rays organization. Kim hit .253/.316/.368 in 98 plate appearances down the stretch and did enough to convince the club’s front office to reinvest in a one-year, $20MM deal as a free agent this winter. Kim signed that deal in mid-December, reportedly spurning a four-year, $48MM offer from the A’s in order to bet on himself. He suffered the hand injury a month later.
Kim originally jumped from the Korea Baseball Organization to MLB on a four-year, $28MM deal with the Padres, spanning the 2021-24 seasons. He played all over the infield during his time in San Diego but was primarily a shortstop. Kim has plus speed, a strong glove and a roughly league-average bat. He slashed .242/.326/.380 in 540 games as a Padre (101 wRC+).
Kim’s high floor and solid-if-unspectacular performance in the batter’s box might have netted him a long-term deal in his first trip through free agency were it not for a late shoulder injury in 2024 that required surgery. He signed for two years and $29MM with the Rays but had an opt-out after year one. The Rays waived him in August in hopes of saving some cash, and Atlanta obliged, picking up the remaining $2MM or so on last year’s salary. They’d also have been on the hook for his 2026 salary had Kim forgone the opt-out. Instead, he triggered that clause, returned to free agency, and came out ahead with regard to that option. Clearly, based on the reported A’s offer, he had a good bit more earning power. However, if he has a strong five months to close out the year, he should be able to comfortably top that $28MM he left on the table.
Braves shortstops rank 21st in MLB with a .266/.305/.378 batting line and 92 wRC+ on the season. Nearly all that production has come from Jorge Mateo, but his .309/.345/.455 slash comes in spite of a 32.8% strikeout rate and has been propped up by a colossal .441 average on balls in play that he can’t sustain over a larger sample. Mauricio Dubón has slashed a sharp .271/.331/.410, but he’s struggled while playing shortstop and been more productive when he’s in the lineup as an outfielder. That likely comes down to pure happenstance, however.
Kim’s return will cut into the playing time for both Mateo and Dubón — the former in particular. Mateo hasn’t played anywhere on the field besides shortstop this season. Dubón has logged 134 innings in the outfield (64 in left, 70 in center), 205 at short and another six at the hot corner.
