O's could be looking at a Plan B for Kim
Manager Buck Showalter said the surprise appearance of first baseman Christian Walker in left field Tuesday against the Toronto Blue Jays was unrelated to the corner-outfield uncertainty, one of the spring's ongoing narratives. But it's hard not to connect those dots.
No one is ready to call Kim a bust, of course, since there is still time for him to get more comfortable at the plate and in the outfield. It's just that the contrast between Kim's first three weeks in a major league camp and the performances of a number of the Orioles' minor league prospects has been glaring.
The game Tuesday at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium provided some obvious examples. Walker has had one of the most productive bats in camp, and he went out to an unfamiliar position Tuesday and held his own, making a key assist to blunt what was shaping up as a big first inning for the Blue Jays.
Late in the game, minor league outfielder Alfredo Marte, who signed with the Orioles as a free agent in December, replaced Walker in left field and made one nice play after another, including a diving grab in the seventh inning and a tough catch in left-center field that ended Toronto's rally in the ninth and preserved a 6-6 tie.
Marte also hit a two-run homer that temporarily gave the Orioles the lead and elevated his exhibition batting average to .368 (7-for-19).
This has been a pleasant development that has not gone unnoticed by Showalter, who has dropped Marte's name into a number of postgame news briefings.
“He came with some unknown about him defensively,” Showalter said. “He had a misplay the very first game he played, and since then, he's played really well out there.”
Marte's performance doesn't directly connect to Kim's situation, either. He's not even on the 40-man roster, so it would take a string of unforeseen circumstances to get him anywhere near Camden Yards on Opening Day.
Walker is a far more realistic possibility, even if Showalter is trying to cast this as largely a move to diversify his minor league depth at a time when he already has three sluggers on the projected 25-man roster who play first base. One of them, Chris Davis, is signed through the 2022 season.
Which brings us back to Kim. He walked and was hit by a pitch in four plate appearances Tuesday, which raised his on-base percentage to .171, but he has yet to suggest that he's going to suddenly bloom into a productive major league hitter. His outfield skills also are still open to question, which would figure to be a concern for a team that might have to depend heavily on its defense to prop up an inconsistent starting rotation.
So if you're the Orioles, what do you do if Kim doesn't begin to show signs of real life at the plate in the next two weeks?
That possibility presents an uncomfortable situation on a number of levels. The Orioles have been down that road with South Korean pitcher Suk Min Yoon, who asked out of his contract and went home when it became apparent that he was in over his head.
The club does not want to release Kim and burn $7?million, and he cannot be sent to the minor leagues without his permission. The Orioles also do not want to embarrass him and damage their chances of competing for talent in the Pacific Rim in the future.
It's a very sensitive situation that might not end well, but the Orioles know that they must be ready to put someone else out there on Opening Day.
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