Ha-seong Kim’s San Diego was selected as the strongest batting line in the major leagues in the 2023 season.
ESPN, an American sports media outlet, predicted the batting order of 30 major league teams ahead of the season opening.
San Diego took first place. Kim Ha-seong was named as the first hitter at second base. It is expected that Juan Soto (right fielder), Manny Machado (third baseman) and Sander Bohartz (shortstop) will lead in numbers 2, 3 and 4. ESPN predicted that the strength of San Diego’s batting line is “everything” and the weakness is “no”, and that “it will be the strongest batting line in San Diego’s history.”
Second place was taken by St. Louis. This is a lineup with Tommy Edman as the first hitter at shortstop. In other words, the keystone combination of the WBC Korean national team took the lead-off of the prospective teams in the 1st and 2nd place in batting. Regarding the St. Louis batting line with Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado placed in the center batting line, ESPN evaluated, “It shows strength in patience and long hitting.” Slow speed is a weakness, but it was evaluated as a result of the idea of the other line and that the field was filled with elite defenders. 안전놀이터
Atlanta and Houston followed in third and fourth. Ryu Hyun-jin’s Toronto ranked 5th. The Los Angeles Dodgers ranked sixth. It means that although they lost Trea Turner and Justin Turner, they are still a strong lineup.
The Pittsburgh batting line, with Choi Ji-man as first baseman and fourth hitter, stayed in the mid-lower ranks at 17th overall. It was positively evaluated that they recruited patient hitters such as Choi Ji-man, Andrew McCutchen, and Carlos Santana this winter.
The Los Angeles Angels ranked 18th, lower than Pittsburgh, even with the best hitters in the league, Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. ESPN called even this a “generous ranking.” This is because the health of Trout and Anthony Landon cannot be guaranteed.
Oakland ranked last overall, followed by Cincinnati at 29th. ESPN said, “Oakland and Cincinnati faced each other in the World Series twice in 1972 and 1990. The two teams won’t make it to the World Series in 2023, so let’s remember the good times.”