{"id":681269,"date":"2026-04-22T19:45:38","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T19:45:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/681269\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T19:45:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T19:45:38","slug":"two-dodgers-on-chopping-block-ahead-of-mookie-betts-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/681269\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Dodgers on Chopping Block Ahead of Mookie Betts Return"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Los Angeles Dodgers have a difficult decision ahead of them, as one of Hyeseong Kim or Alex Freeland will have to make the trip to Triple-A Oklahoma City whenever it is All-Star shortstop Mookie Betts makes his return.<\/p>\n<p>Kim and Freeland had a similar <a href=\"https:\/\/dodgersnation.com\/hyeseong-kim-sends-message-to-fans-after-starting-2026-in-aaa\/2026\/03\/30\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">position battle during spring training<\/a>, which Freeland ultimately won to secure his spot on LA\u2019s Opening Day roster. He had a good first game, hitting two extra base hits, though hasn\u2019t exactly delivered on offense since.<\/p>\n<p>For that reason, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7217230\/2026\/04\/22\/dodgers-roki-sasaki-alex-freeland\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Athletic\u2019s Fabian Ardaya<\/a> believes Kim would be the answer if the Dodgers were constructing their roster for the rest of the season today. That being said, he also sees the merit in keeping Freeland around.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I were constructing a postseason roster on April 22, Kim would likely be a better fit,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7217230\/2026\/04\/22\/dodgers-roki-sasaki-alex-freeland\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ardaya wrote<\/a>. \u201cBut I would also understand the argument that Kim would be better served than Freeland to see everyday at-bats in the minors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhoever wins that \u2018battle\u2019 likely gets to hold on until either Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez or Tommy Edman returns.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As for when the decision will come, the duo still have plenty of time to make a case for themselves. Betts has only just begun swinging after pulling his oblique, and is still yet to go on a rehab assignment.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Dodgers-Alex-Freeland-1.jpg\" alt=\"Apr 18, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Alex Freeland (76) catches a fly ball in shallow right field during the fourth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images\" class=\"wp-image-303270\"  \/>Apr 18, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Alex Freeland (76) catches a fly ball in shallow right field during the fourth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn ImagesHow Are Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland Performing?<\/p>\n<p>Freeland has played in six more games than Kim this season, but the latter is outperforming the young infielder by a wide margin.<\/p>\n<p>Kim has a .333\/.441\/.519 slash line through his 13 games this season for a .960 OPS\u2014far superior to Freeland\u2019s lackluster mark of .559. Kim also has the same number of extra base hits (3) as Freeland.<\/p>\n<p>Freeland\u2019s ability to work the count and draw walks <a href=\"https:\/\/dodgersnation.com\/hyeseong-kim-didnt-make-dodgers-roster-for-these-reasons\/2026\/03\/23\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">served as one of the main deciding factors<\/a> in choosing him over Kim during spring training, but Kim has also outperformed him there. Kim\u2019s six narrowly beat out Freeland\u2019s five, Kim\u2019s strikeout percentage is also superior.<\/p>\n<p>Kim currently platoons shortstop with veteran Miguel Rojas, a right-handed hitter, while the switch-hitting Freeland mans second, but upon Betts\u2019 return, they could very well just shift the platoon to the other side of the infield while sending Freeland to Triple-A if these results persist.<\/p>\n<p>Do you think Hyeseong Kim should keep the spot once Mookie Betts makes his return from injury?<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sab-icon\" src=\"https:\/\/dodgersnation.com\/path\/to\/app-icon.png\" alt=\"App icon\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\"\/><\/p>\n<p>LA Baseball Report<\/p>\n<p>Get the app for faster news<\/p>\n<p> <a id=\"sab-cta\" class=\"sab-cta\" href=\"#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">GET<\/a> \u00d7  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Dodgers have a difficult decision ahead of them, as one of Hyeseong Kim or Alex&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":681270,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2406],"tags":[22432,5,39,1393,1165,4332,4333,774,57,3224,4331,4,1526,558],"class_list":{"0":"post-681269","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-baseball","10":"tag-dodgers","11":"tag-hyeseong-kim","12":"tag-la","13":"tag-la-dodgers","14":"tag-ladodgers","15":"tag-los-angeles","16":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","17":"tag-losangeles","18":"tag-losangelesdodgers","19":"tag-mlb","20":"tag-mookie-betts","21":"tag-top-stories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116450081233421278","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681269","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=681269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/681270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=681269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=681269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=681269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}