Braves Report: Between a rock and a Kim place

Struggles (and injuries) abound for the Braves these days.

But only one guy has been so painful to watch that he’s getting booed at home and inspiring manager Walt Weiss to pinch hit for him in key situations — even if it means briefly moving Matt Olson to right field to make it work.

Let’s discuss.

DRIVING THE STRUGGLE BUS

Credit: AP Photo/Mike Stewart

Credit: AP Photo/Mike Stewart

By Chad Bishop, Braves beat writer

The Ha-Seong Kim experiment (?) is testing the patience of Braves Country.

In Wednesday’s 7-2 loss to the Giants (the first of two Braves defeats on that day), Kim went 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts. The latter of those two strikeouts was followed by audible boos originating from the stands behind the Braves dugout. Kim flew out in his third and final at-bat, swinging at the first pitch and lofting a harmless fly ball to left field, a result invoking more disgruntled noises from the home faithful.

Kim was hitting .085 before Thursday’s action. He had five hits in 59 at-bats over 19 games. No extra-base hits. Seven walks (one of which was met with a sarcastic cheer from home fans during the ninth inning of Wednesday’s first game). Sixteen strikeouts. Three RBIs.

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His chase rate (swinging at pitches outside the strike zone) is 26%. His barrel percentage is 2.5%. His batting run value is -10.

The Braves’ $20-million shortstop is just not working out right now.

What are the Braves to do? Putting the 30-year-old South Korean in the lineup at this juncture is a massive detriment to the team’s offense. Benching him gives him no opportunity to work his way out of it. Quite the tangled web has been woven.

There are all sorts of pros and cons to designating Kim for assignment or releasing him altogether. Trade him? One can’t imagine there would be too many takers for a light-hitting shortstop with an eyebrow-raising history of recent injuries. Maybe a visit to the injured list with a faux ailment followed by a full rehab assignment could be in the cards? Not the wildest strategy that’s been deployed, eh?

Whatever Braves brass opts to do with the “Kim Situation,” it’s clear that Mauricio Dubón or Jorge Mateo should be the team’s starting shortstop. The mounting evidence for that is hard to argue.

No argument here. Y’all make sure to follow Chad at @MrChadBishop … then keep on scrolling.

QUICK, SOME OTHER NEWS!

🚨 Latest backup backstop alert: Atlanta traded pitcher Hunter Stratton to Pittsburgh for catcher Joey Bart, the former Georgia Tech and Buford High star who made his big league debut in 2020. He’s a career .240 hitter.

Jair Camargo rejoined Triple-A Gwinnett while Sandy León was designated for assignment.

🤕 Injury updates: Spencer Strider is now on the 60-day injured list … and Ronald Acuña Jr. and his hamstring are still a “long way” from being ready to return. No official update on Michael Harris II and his recurring back tightness, but previous Weiss statements suggest it may not be a lingering thing.

⭐ Acuña, Harris, Drake Baldwin and Ozzie Albies are all in prime position for the All-Star Game after the initial round of voting. Olson is too — but needs help to get the starting gig over former Atlantan Freddie Freeman.

You can vote online up to five times a day through June 25.

💪 Speaking of All-Star festivities: We’re going back to a clockless Home Run Derby. If nothing else, that should make for a less confusing TV product. (Guys already swinging at the next pitch while their last ball is still in flight ain’t the least confusing thing, right?)

🤨 MLB unveiled a proposal to exclude high school players from its draft. They’d have to wait two years … while international players would still be draftable at 18. Totally makes sense.

ON DECK: THE MIZ AND MORE

Credit: AP Photo/Aaron Gash

The Braves are looking for an offensive awakening.

The big bad Brewers bringing MLB’s most electric arm to Truist Park miiiight not help on that front … but it should make for good TV!

🔥 Jacob Misiorowski, who’s slated to start opposite Martín Pérez tonight, is fresh off a 95-pitch complete game shutout in which he struck out 15 batters. (Read that again.)

🔥 He hit 104.5 mph on the radar gun — the fastest pitch by a starter in baseball’s nearly two decades of official pitch-tracking. He actually averages 100.1 mph on his fastball.

🔥 And did we mention the league-leading 1.34 ERA?

Ho hum.

My boss on the newsletter side of things, Eric Mandel, is a Milwaukee native, so I asked him to sum up the vibes in Brewersland:

“The Brewers have had some real tasty young aces in their recent days: Ben Sheets, Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff, let alone unhittable (until the playoffs) closers Josh Hader and Devin Williams. But the Miz buzz is a real next level, in part because of his age and unreal hot cheese. Plus, he showed he can already deliver in the playoffs.

“He is the most enthralling Brewer since our brief, beautiful cup of coffee with CC Sabathia, who brought us back to the postseason after 26 years of mediocrity.”

Well then.

The second-year phenom showed out at last year’s All-Star Game at Truist Park, but the Braves have yet to face him as a team.

Godspeed, fellas.

A closer look at the upcoming schedule:

🗓️ Braves vs. Brewers: Friday through Sunday at 7:15, 4:10 and 1:35 p.m., respectively. All on BravesVision.

After the Pérez-Misiorowski matchup, we’re looking at Chris Sale (8-5, 2.30 ERA) vs. Kyle Harrison (8-1, 2.47) and Bryce Elder (5-4, 3.15) vs. Robert Gasser (0-3, 4.88).

🗓️ Braves at Padres: Monday through Wednesday at 10:10, 9:40 and 8:40 p.m., respectively. Monday’s game airs on ESPN.

ROME WASN’T BUILT IN A DAY …

… but northeast Georgia’s Braves affiliate sure got real intriguing, real fast.

In fact, the High-A Rome Emperors (whose logo, it must be pointed out, involves a penguin in a toga) might just be the current toast of the Atlanta farm system.

The roster now boasts eight of the organization’s top 30 prospects, including dudes like:

Outfielder Eric Hartman, one of MLB’s fastest-rising farmhands. Stats through 60 games: 17 homers, 42 RBIs, 26 stolen bases, .940 OPS.
Shortstop/second baseman John Gil, who you heard a bit about during big league spring training. Strong defense, speed (31 stolen bases) and some pop, too (. 800 OPS).
Pitcher Luke Sinnard, who’s struck out 21 batters while posting a 2.30 ERA and sub-1.00 WHIP over 15⅔ innings.

That list doesn’t even feature top overall prospect Cam Caminiti (pitcher), or several players who arrived in Rome relatively recently. Those include primo 2025 picks Tate Southisene (shortstop, No. 3 prospect) and Briggs McKenzie (pitcher, No. 6 prospect), as well as 2024 selection Owen Carey (outfielder, No. 17 prospect).

Hope to do more on all this at a later date … but that’s an impressive squad.