Kim's decreased playing time has nothing to do with his own performance, but rather the impressive (and unexpected) production of Trey Mancini, Jon Meoli of The Baltimore Sun reports.

EDGE Analysis

Manager Buck Showalter said that benching Kim has been "probably one of, if not the, most difficult thing" for him to manage this season. Rookie sensation Trey Mancini (.296/.320/.648) has seven home runs and 20 RBI through his first 20 games, completely dominating Kim's .227/.306/.318 performance over 19 contests. He'll continue to see at-bats in a platoon role for now, but it's becoming clear that the 24-year-old is being faded from Showalter's routine plans. It's a drastic shift from the preseason outlook, but Kim is quickly becoming irrelevant outside of deep daily leagues.