ATLANTA — From the moment Ha-Seong Kim was activated in May after recovering from surgery on his right middle finger, the Atlanta Braves shortstop was rarely at his locker in the clubhouse. Kim, always accompanied by his interpreter David Lee, practically resided in the team’s indoor batting cages. He took endless swings in hopes of reviving his offensive production that made him one of the biggest stars in the KBO before arriving in MLB.“That guy has worn out that batting cage — I mean, absolutely worn it out,” said Chris Sale after his complete-game shutout against the Los Angeles Dodgers. “We got this fancy pitching machine thing that has the screen and all that, he’s probably got our money’s worth in that thing over the last couple months.”Now, the Braves are hoping to get as much of a return on their $20 million dollar investment into Kim’s bat as possible over the last 17 games of the season, and best-case scenario, in the postseason. So far, Kim has 11 hits this season — he missed a combined 67 games (and his second straight spring training) because of two stints on the injured list because of his right middle finger. If you divide each one of those by his salary, that’s $1.8 million per hit.With 17 games left in the season, it would be foolish to expect Kim to replicate the production he had with in San Diego, where combined to hit .242 with 47 homers, 200 RBI across four seasons with the Padres. Especially as Kim was limited to a late-game utility after returning after the Aug. 3 trade deadline from his second stint on the injured list, a move he said was “a little disappointment,” but also acknowledged how well the Braves had been playing without him.