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Rays' Kim Ha-seong leaves game with back injury

Published: 22 Jul. 2025, 16:39

Second base umpire Mark Wegner calls time after Tampa Bay Rays' Kim Ha-Seong Kim, right, stole second base during the second inning of an MLB game against the Chicago White Sox in Tampa, Florida on July 21. [AP/YONHAP]

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Kim Ha-seong was forced to leave his latest game with lower back tightness, yet another setback in a season already compromised by multiple injuries.

Kim walked and stole second base in the bottom of the second inning against the Chicago White Sox at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida, on Monday (local time). After fielding the final out in the top of the third at shortstop, Kim did not return to the field for the fourth inning, as Taylor Walls shifted from second base to shortstop.

After the Rays lost 8-3, Kim said his back "tightened up really strongly" on his steal, according to MLB.com.

"I tried to play through it, but I didn't think it was going to work," Kim said through his interpreter, David Lee.

Both Kim and Rays manager Kevin Cash said they would have to wait another day to learn the full extent of the player's injury.

Kim signed with the Rays in February after four seasons with the San Diego Padres, but didn't make his season debut until July 4, as he recovered from right shoulder surgery performed in October.

Kim had to leave that first game due to right calf tightness and missed three games.

The Rays have been trying to manage the load on Kim's surgically repaired shoulder, giving him eight starts at shortstop and two more at second base.

Before suffering his shoulder injury in August last year, Kim had been a durable player for the Padres, appearing in 150 games in 2022 and 152 the following year.

Kim Ha-Seong of the Tampa Bay Rays makes a throw to first in the second inning during an MLB game against the Chicago White Sox at George M. Steinbrenner Field on July 21 in Tampa, Florida. [AFP/YONHAP]

"Throughout my career, I've never been hurt this many times, so it's really disappointing," Kim said. "I put in the hard work rehabbing, running, conditioning, everything, and I thought I would be ready. I've missed a lot of games due to the surgery, so I'm just hoping that this is like the last step of getting over the hump, and hopefully it feels a lot better tomorrow."

For this season, Kim is batting .226/.314/.355 with a homer, three RBIs and four steals in 10 games.

Elsewhere in Major League Baseball, Lee Jung-hoo of the San Francisco Giants went 1-for-5 in a 9-5 loss to the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park in Atlanta. His batting average for the season remained at .249.

Lee made a defensive gaffe in center field in the bottom of the sixth. Lee and left fielder Heliot Ramos both hesitated on a flyball off Drake Baldwin's bat before Lee made a belated diving attempt as the ball landed just in front of him. It was scored as an RBI double for Baldwin.

Kim Hye-seong went 0-for-3 for the Los Angeles Dodgers in their 5-2 win over the Minnesota Twins at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The utility man is batting just .195 in July, and his average for the season has fallen from .383 at the end of June to .320 after Monday's game.

Yonhap