Padres infielder Sung Mun Song will require about four weeks of recovery time due to an oblique injury, according to Jeeho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency. Song sustained the injury during a recent batting practice session.
The projected recovery period just about matches up with the start of San Diego’s spring camp, so Song might not miss any time at all as he prepares for his first big league Spring Training. As always, of course, oblique-related injuries are notoriously tricky to gauge, so the four-week timeline perhaps represents a best-case scenario. Song will also be missing out on offseason prep time in general, so depending on his progress, the Padres could place him on the 10-day injured list to begin the season if Song still needs a little more time to ramp up.
As Yoo notes, the more immediate matter for Song even before Opening Day is the World Baseball Classic in March. That said, it wasn’t known if Song was intending to play for the South Korean national team or if he was skipping the WBC to focus on his debut season in the majors. Yoo writes that Song didn’t take part in the South Korean team’s preliminary camp that opened on January 9, hinting that Song might not have been in the team’s plans even if healthy.
Song wasn’t on the national team’s radar during the last WBC in 2023, as the infielder didn’t really start to produce big numbers in the KBO League until the 2024 season. Song broke out with 19 homers and a .340/.409/.518 slash line over 602 plate appearances for the Kiwoom Heroes that year, and followed up by hitting .315/.387/.530 with 26 home runs in 646 PA in 2025.
This put Song onto the radar of Major League teams, and after the Heroes agreed to post him, San Diego signed Song in December to a four-year contract worth $15MM in guaranteed money, with a player opt-out prior to the 2029 season and a club option for the 2030 season. Manny Machado is occupying Song’s primary position of third base, but Song’s ability to also play first and second base should allow him plenty of playing time bouncing around the Padres’ infield, plus the team has also considered him as an outfield candidate. There’s plenty of intrigue in how the 29-year-old will adjust to MLB pitching, though this oblique issue is an unwelcome first hurdle to Song’s Padres career.
