1 area where slick-fielding shortstop would help the SF Giants lineup

The SF Giants have a need for a shortstop and slick-fielding infielder Ha-Seong Kim makes some sense for the club. While he would upgrade the team's defense at shortstop, he would add another contact hitter to the lineup.

1 area where slick-fielding shortstop would help the SF Giants lineup

In his brief time with the Giants, Jung Hoo Lee demonstrated excellent contact skills. He had an 8.2 percent strikeout rate to go along with 91.5 percent contact rate. The first stat is easy to visualize.

Lee just did not strike out that much. The second data point fits what we see from him in that when he swung the bat, he made contact at a very high rate. The league average contact rate was 76.8 percent in 2024, so Lee was well above that benchmark.

As a unit, Giants hitters struck out 24 percent of the time last season. High strikeout rates are part of today's game so long as the lineup can offset it with power. That was not the Giants as they were tied for 16th in baseball with 177 home runs and were middle of the pack with a .157 ISO.

The Giants would like to improve upon their strikeout rate from 2024. That is always a balancing act as teams do not want to sacrifice power for contact. In a perfect world, teams would strike out rarely but does that approach make sense if they are compromising quality of contact?

This is where someone like Ha-Seong Kim comes into play. He has posted a .706 OPS in four seasons with the San Diego Padres. That is right around league average to go along with strong baserunning skills and excellent defense. If you add all of those qualities up, you get a pretty good all-around player. It bears mentioning that Kim is recovering from shoulder surgery, so it is hard to project how he will look upon his return.

One quality that Kim brings to the table is solid contact skills. He has posted an 18.8 percent strikeout rate with an 83.5 percent contact rate. When he swings the bat, he makes contact at a higher rate than the average hitter.

Adding Kim would give the Giants a boost in terms of contact skills. Those would help a lineup that does not hit for much power and strikes out too much. If the team plans to prioritize pitching and defense, they need hitters who can move the line. That requires putting the ball in play and Kim does that quite well.