Padres’ Kim Ha-seong leaves game with shoulder injury, listed as day to day

Kim Ha-seong of the San Diego Padres has suffered a jammed right shoulder on a slide at home plate and is now considered day to day.

Kim exited the Padres’ home game against the Texas Rangers at Petco Park in San Diego on Sunday (local time) after scoring on a sacrifice fly by Xander Bogaerts in the bottom of the third inning.

As Kim slid home headfirst, his right hand got jammed underneath the left knee of catcher Sam Huff. The ball bounced past Huff and toward the backstop, and Kim immediately grabbed his right shoulder after sliding past the plate. Kim had the presence of mind to touch home with his hand to give the Padres a 1-0 lead, but then stayed down on his knees in obvious pain.

He was tended to by a team trainer, and was replaced by Matthew Batten at second base to start the top of the fourth inning. The Padres won the game 5-3.

Kim led off the game with a walk and then stole second base. He had reached on an infield single in the third inning before suffering the injury.

Padres manager Bob Melvin said after the game that Kim had jammed his right shoulder on the play and is considered day to day. Kim is doubtful for the Padres’ next game against the Colorado Rockies on Monday.

Kim said he’d been told by team doctors there was no structural damage to his shoulder.

“It’s kind of hard to give you a specific time frame,” Kim was quoted as saying on MLB.com. “But if I wake up tomorrow and feel great, I’m going to play.”

Kim has been swinging a hot bat of late, to the tune of a .396/.508/.660 line with four home runs, seven RBIs and five steals in his last 15 games.

For the season, Kim is batting .279/.374/.447 with a career-high 14 home runs, 39 RBIs and 21 steals.

He entered Sunday’s game ranked second in the National League (NL) in wins above replacement (WAR) as calculated by Baseball-Reference at 5.1. He led all NL players in defensive WAR by Baseball-Reference at 1.9.