San Diego Padres outfielder Ha-Sung Kim visited Toronto for the first time since his big league debut.
Kim is scheduled to start at second base in Game 1 against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on April 19.
It will be his first visit to Toronto since his big league debut, but it could also be his home ballpark. The Blue Jays were one of the teams that showed strong interest in Kim when he was coming up through the big leagues.안전놀이터
Kim shares his thoughts on his first visit to Toronto. Photo by MK Sports DB
When he met with the media before the game, Kim was asked if he thought about it, and he quickly said that he didn’t think about it at all, saying, “I like this team (the Padres) right now.”
However, he did share his impressions of Toronto, calling it “a place I wanted to visit once.” “I think it’s nice. The city is different from the US. It feels like Korea. There are a lot of Koreans here, and it would be nice if they came to cheer us on. I should do well,” he said.
There’s another reason he wanted to visit Toronto. He wanted to visit Toronto because that’s where his senior Ryu Hyun-jin is. Neither team had played the day before, so the two went to a Korean restaurant in the Toronto neighborhood to catch up. It was the first time they had met during the regular season since Kim made his big league debut.
The Padres announced their lineup for the day: Kim (second base), Fernando Tatis Jr. (right field), Juan Soto (left field), Manny Machado (third base), Xander Bogaerts (shortstop), Jake Cronenweth (first base), Gary Sanchez (catcher), Matt Carpenter (designated hitter), and Trent Grisham (center field). Joe Musgrove will get the start against Alec Manoa.
The Dodgers made a number of changes to their roster on Sunday, including removing catcher Austin Nola and infielder Lugedad O’Dowd from the lineup.
Manager Bob Melvin said of the designation of O’Dowd, “He was good early on, but he hasn’t been that way lately.” “We’re trying to play more of the guys that we’ve developed in our system, and that’s good for the organization. That’s a good thing for the organization.”