{"id":535345,"date":"2026-01-24T00:53:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T00:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/535345\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T00:53:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T00:53:15","slug":"2-young-dodgers-players-to-compete-for-opening-day-roster-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/535345\/","title":{"rendered":"2 Young Dodgers Players to Compete For Opening Day Roster Spot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Los Angeles Dodgers infielders Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland will look to claim the same spot on the Dodgers\u2019 Opening Day roster in spring training, per MLB.com\u2019s Sonja Chen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Chen held an \u201cAsk Me Anything\u201d thread on the r\/Dodgers Reddit page Thursday, and responded to a question on whether or not Freeland had a chance at playing for the Dodgers come Opening Day.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI think Freeland could have a shot at making the Opening Day roster, but that roster spot may be more between him and Hyeseong Kim,\u201d Chen wrote. \u201cThat feels like a big spring roster battle to watch. If Freeland doesn\u2019t make it, he\u2019s only in his age-24 season and a valuable depth piece to have. I think he has room to continue developing in Triple-A if he starts the season there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Kim and Freeland began the 2025 season in Triple-A, and each had solid seasons while at the lower level. Freeland had a .835 OPS with 16 homers and 82 RBIs with Oklahoma City in 106 games, and Kim had a .793 OPS in just 37 games with the Comets.<\/p>\n

\"Los<\/p>\n

Aug 22, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Alex Freeland (76) celebrates after hitting a solo home run during the third inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: David Frerker-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

How Did Alex Freeland and Hyeseong Kim Perform in MLB in 2025?<\/p>\n

Kim received his call up before Freeland, joining the Dodgers towards the beginning of May. The rookie got off to a hot start in MLB, batting .422 with a 1.058 OPS in May and hitting two of his three home runs on the season.<\/p>\n

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More news: Dodgers\u2019 Tommy Edman May Not Be Available For Start of 2026 Season<\/a><\/p>\n

Afterwards, though, his opportunities came few and far between, leading to a gradual decline. He finished the year with a .699 OPS through 71 games.<\/p>\n

Freeland didn\u2019t join the MLB club until they had some injury trouble at the end of July. The 24-year-old played second and third base in MLB, but never got a chance at shortstop \u2014 his natural position.<\/p>\n

He played nearly every game for a full month, batting .190 with a .602 OPS through 29 games with two homers and six RBIs through 84 at-bats. After the returns of key players such as Kim and a new injury problem at catcher presenting itself, the Dodgers optioned Freeland back to Triple-A at the beginning of September.<\/p>\n

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Will Alex Freeland or Hyeseong Kim Start if They Make the Roster?<\/p>\n

The Dodgers definitely have a spot for Kim or Freeland on the roster, and they could find their chance to start early on.<\/p>\n

More news: Dodgers Retain Recently-DFA\u2019d Utility Infielder<\/a><\/p>\n

Tommy Edman\u2019s availability is in doubt<\/a> for the start of the season, per Fabian Ardaya<\/a>, leaving second base up for grabs between the two sophomores and new signing Andy Iba\u00f1ez. If either of them have a solid spring, they could very well find themselves in the starting spot come Opening Day.<\/p>\n

Which of the two would you rather see on the roster?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Los Angeles Dodgers infielders Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland will look to claim the same spot on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":535346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2406],"tags":[22432,3806,5,39,1393,1165,4332,4333,774,57,3224,4331,4,1406,727,18,880],"class_list":{"0":"post-535345","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-dodgers","8":"tag-alex-freeland","9":"tag-andy-ibanez","10":"tag-baseball","11":"tag-dodgers","12":"tag-hyeseong-kim","13":"tag-la","14":"tag-la-dodgers","15":"tag-ladodgers","16":"tag-los-angeles","17":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","18":"tag-losangeles","19":"tag-losangelesdodgers","20":"tag-mlb","21":"tag-opening-day","22":"tag-ops","23":"tag-san-diego-padres","24":"tag-tommy-edman"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115947347600595355","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=535345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/535346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=535345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=535345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=535345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}