ESPN, the largest sports network in the United States, created a special graphic during the game between the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers at Petco Park on July 7 to highlight Kim’s (28, San Diego) performance this season. During Kim’s second at-bat in the third inning, ESPN broadcast the graphic and continued to praise him.
ESPN’s graphic was the Wins Above Replacement (WAR) ranking for the season, as compiled by Baseball Reference. Considered the granddaddy of the sabermetric matrix, WAR is widely used by fans, experts, and teams to make decisions. It’s not a 100% accurate measure of a player’s value, but it’s intuitive and often used as a reference.
In the U.S., WAR is usually calculated by Baseball Reference and FanGraphs, and according to the ESPN graphic, Kim is ranked second in the category with a 5.6 WAR by Baseball Reference. Ronald Acuña Jr. (Atlanta, 5.7) is slightly ahead of Kim. If Kim’s recent form continues and Acuña Jr. has a brief hiccup, the top spot could change hands.
Behind Kim are Mookie Betts (LA Dodgers, 5.1), Freddie Freeman (LA Dodgers, 5.1), Juan Soto (San Diego, 4.6), and Luis Arajes (Miami, 4.5). That’s not to say that Kim is the second-best player in the league, but it’s a good indicator of what he’s done this season. “He’s second in WAR among outfielders,” said ESPN, “he’s a difference-maker on defense, and he’s having the best season of his career on offense.”
One criticism of Baseball-Reference’s tally is that it heavily weights defense. However, according to FanGraphs, Kim’s WAR is among the best in the league. After seven days of play, Kim is ranked eighth in Fangraphs with a WAR of 4.2.
The players in front of Kim are all superstars and have had great seasons. Ronald Acuña Jr. leads the way here with 6.1, followed by Shohei Ohtani (LA Angels, 5.7), Freddie Freeman (5.8), Mookie Betts (5.1), Juan Soto (4.5), Luis Robert (Chicago White Sox, 4.4), and Marcus Semien (Texas, 4.3). Before the season, no one would have expected Kim to compete with them, so this is a surprising discovery.
If you look at FanGraphs’ aggregate numbers, you’ll see a much different picture. Normally, we would assume that Kim would have accumulated a lot of contributions on defense, but this is not necessarily the case this season. Sure, his defensive contribution rating is quite high (6.3). But he also has a 21.2 on offense. That’s even higher than Simeon (16.6), who has 17 home runs and 70 RBIs this year. This shows that Kim is not only a good defender, but also a very good offensive player.
However, he’s still not a national star or a high-paid player, so the local media and bookmakers are still treating him like one. That doesn’t mean he’s in the National League MVP race right now, but it does mean that no one seems to recognize him as a candidate. He’s second in the National League in WAR according to Baseball Reference and fifth in the National League in WAR according to FanGraphs, but neither organization has him as an MVP candidate.
CBS Sports broke down the race for the award on Sunday. For now, the National League MVP is Ronald Acuña Jr. It’s hard to argue with a player who has been so dominant. The runner-up is Freddie Freeman. Again, not much disagreement. However, Kim’s name was not on the list. Luis Araujo, Juan Soto, and Matt Olson (Atlanta) were mentioned, but not Kim.
The bookies’ MVP odds also don’t include him. According to SportsBettingDigest, this year’s National League MVP odds are currently at -330 for Acuña Jr. He is followed by Mookie Betts (+600), Freddie Freeman (+1200), and Juan Soto (+3000). At this point, it’s easy to understand why Kim’s name isn’t on the list.토토사이트
But while Corbin Carroll (+3500), Luis Araes (+4200), Matt Olsen (+5000), Paul Goldschmidt (+5000), Fernando Tatis Jr (+7500), Christian Yelich (+7500), and Pete Alonso (+8000) are in the mix, Kim’s name is nowhere to be found. Even Ketel Marte (+15000) is in the running, albeit a long shot, and Kim isn’t even in the mix.
The reality is that Kim’s chances of winning MVP are very low. Given his objective performance and impact, it’s understandable that he’s not among the top candidates. However, it’s a bit of a shame that he didn’t make the cut. Kim’s name isn’t even in the top 15. It will be interesting to see if he can continue his strong play and join this group at the end of the season.