Korean star new to MLB? You need to call ... Blake Snell?
Adjusting to a new team can be difficult. The challenge grows tenfold for players adapting to a new culture on top of everything else.
In the span of two days at the end of 2020, the Padres added Blake Snell in a trade with the Rays and Ha-Seong Kim as a free agent out of South Korea. For the first time, both were playing in an organization other than the one that had drafted them.
"The first time I did it," Snell said, "it was pretty difficult for me. '21 was pretty, pretty tough, just more so figuring out who am I now that I'm not with Tampa, I'm with San Diego."
Kim, who spent the first seven years of his professional career with the Kiwoom Heroes of the Korea Baseball Organization, had an even bigger transition to make. On the field, he needed to adapt to higher velocities and a different level of play, but the adjustments didn't end when he left the ballpark for the day.
Kim was living in a foreign country for the first time, far away from the commonplace comforts of home. But the hardest part was the language barrier.
"I want to speak and show my emotions," Kim said through interpreter David Lee, "but there's a limit to how I can do that -- and also, there's a time lag, because I want to have a conversation right away. But there's a lag because I have to talk through an interpreter."
Eventually, Snell and Kim began having conversations. Snell initiated the chats and used simpler vocabulary that was easier for Kim to understand. With time, they became close friends.
Kim looks back on his early conversations with Snell as something that helped ease his transition into the big leagues. He felt supported as he navigated a new league and culture -- and after an adjustment period, Kim established himself as an MLB-caliber talent, winning the utility National League Gold Glove Award in 2023 and flashing plenty of offensive upside.
Because he knows how difficult it can be to go from the KBO to MLB, Kim has taken it upon himself to be a resource for his fellow Korean players trying to break into the big leagues.
But Kim wasn't in the immediate vicinity of two of his former Heroes teammates who have recently made the leap to the Majors: Jung Hoo Lee, who signed with the Giants ahead of 2024, and Hyeseong Kim, who is competing for a spot with the Dodgers in '25.
His former teammates and countrymen happened to sign with teams Snell was with, so Ha-Seong Kim, now with the Rays, reached out with a request: Help them in the same way Snell helped him.
"Ha-Seong cares about all the players from Korea so much, making sure that he can help them," Snell said. "It all really started with him just saying, 'If you have time, can you talk to him and help kind of ease him into what to expect, what's going to happen?'"
"I feel like that helped me just get comfortable with life in the big leagues," Kim said, "so I thought that was important for Jung Hoo and Hyeseong to feel the same way."
Relatively few Korean-born players have gone directly from the KBO to MLB. Jung Ho Kang was the first position player to do so with the Pirates in 2015. Most other Korean big leaguers signed with MLB organizations as international amateur free agents, a track that begins in the Minor Leagues.
Such was the case for right-hander Chan Ho Park, who became the first Korean-born player in the Majors when he debuted with the Dodgers in 1994. Park has served as a mentor to several Korean big leaguers, including Ha-Seong Kim.
Kim was able to lean on players such as Park and Kang, but there wasn't much precedent for what he was trying to accomplish as a Korean player breaking into the big leagues. When he needed someone to help calm his mind, he knew he could call Park.
But when Kim needed a friendly face within his clubhouse, he came to learn that he could turn to Snell. And over time, they became ¡
¡°... best friends,¡± Snell said, finishing a reporter¡¯s sentence. ¡°Just talking. We always talk. We like each other. We both really enjoy the game. We see it the same way.¡±
With a deep appreciation for what their relationship meant to him, Kim asked Snell to continue mentoring his new Korean teammates. That started with Lee, who had a friendly face in Arizona in Kim during spring (¡°Ha-Seong is a good cook,¡± Lee noted) and one in the Giants' clubhouse in Snell.
"We would talk inside the clubhouse on a daily basis," Lee said through interpreter Justin Han. "He would talk about a lot of mental stuff that I would really need to work on.¡±
And it has continued this spring with Hyeseong Kim, who said Snell made the initial approach by saying, ¡°Hey, I¡¯ve spent time with multiple Korean players. I know how they feel, so I want to talk to you and share my thoughts with you.¡±
That¡¯s not a coincidence. Lee said he had dinner with Snell early on in Spring Training and told his former Giants teammate, much like Ha-Seong Kim once requested, ¡°Please take care of Hyeseong like you took care of me.¡±
¡°He's young. I understand what he's going through,¡± Snell added. ¡°Ha-Seong really wanted me to help him and mentor him. I take a lot of pride in that and really helping him, getting him ahead of where Ha-Seong was when he first got here.¡±
Hyeseong Kim has remained in frequent contact with Ha-Seong Kim, despite spending Spring Training on opposite sides of the country, and he had a few dinners with Lee before Cactus League games started, but having Snell in the same clubhouse has made for a smoother transition.
"In the game of baseball, you have to have a lot of experience," Hyeseong Kim said, with international scout Dean Kim interpreting. "And for someone to have and share that kind of experience before I actually experience it myself has been just phenomenal."
After everything that Ha-Seong Kim has done for his countrymen, Snell did his best to put in a good word for his friend, once again doing whatever he can to help Kim get comfortable in a new environment.
"I've already told everyone in Tampa to show him nothing but love, to take care of him," Snell said. "He'll enjoy it out there."