- Created By safetotosite1
Kim Do-young of the KIA Tigers is showing off his hot bat
Kim Do-young (21) of the KIA Tigers is showing off his hot bat.
Starting at third base against the NC Dinos in the 2024 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League, Kim went 2-for-3 with a double, a home run, one RBI, two runs scored, one walk, and one stolen base in the game against the NC Dinos at Gwangju-KIA Champions Field on April 22. Kia went 4-15 despite Kim's performance.
After joining KIA with the first overall pick in the 2022 Rookie Draft, Kim was touted as the next Lee Jong-beom. With the last pick, Kia was torn between Kim, the best shortstop in high school, and Moon Dong-joo (Hanwha), a fireballer who can easily reach 150 kilometers per hour, and ultimately chose Kim. However, Kim had a disappointing debut season, batting .224 (53-for-53) with three home runs, 19 RBIs, 37 runs scored, 13 doubles, and a .674 OPS in 103 games.
After realizing the barriers to the first team in his rookie season, Kim showed promise last year. He had an impressive season, batting .333 (103-for-340) with seven home runs, 47 RBI, 72 runs scored, 25 doubles, and an OPS of .824 in 84 games. Injuries kept him from playing a lot of games.
Kim was injured in his last at-bat in the final game of the APBC (Asian Professional Baseball Championship) against Japan last November when he made a head-first slide to first base to avoid a double play, 토토사이트 and the injury affected his preparation for this season. The injury also prevented him from playing in the Seoul Series special games against the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers on May 17 and 18.
However, Kim has made up for his injury with an incredible performance this season. In 24 games, Kim is batting .973 (31-for-98) with eight home runs, 20 RBIs, 20 runs scored, 10 doubles, and an OPS of .973, putting him on pace to win the MVP award. He has a 12-game hitting streak and is fourth in the league in home runs. Only Han Yoo-seom (SSG, 10 home runs), Mel Rojas Jr. (KT, 9 home runs), and Choi Jung (SSG, 9 home runs) have hit more home runs than Kim.
Kim has batted second in 15 of the 24 games this season, followed by five games at first, three games at third, and one game at seventh. She has shown that she has the ability to bat anywhere in the batting order, whether it's No. 1, No. 2, or No. 3, as she has shown excellent hitting ability, quick feet, and strong power. In an interview on the 17th, Kim said, "In the beginning, I wanted to go out as a No. 3 hitter and score a lot of runs, but I felt more comfortable at No. 2. Since I'm a No. 2 hitter with a strong trend these days, I'm trying to work as hard as I can in the team's batting order to be a hitter who gets hits when the team needs hits and runs when the team needs runs."
Lee Bum-ho is adamant that Kim should eventually take over as KIA's center fielder. "I think it's better for (Kim) to be a player who can hit long balls and steal bases in the No. 3 spot in the batting order rather than No. 2 like (Choi) Jung-i," Lee said. "I wouldn't mind if he bats No. 2 or No. 3. But as a team, we don't have a lot of players who can give us more RBIs or home runs. There's a lot more value in being a No. 3 hitter. It's in the best interest of the team to have a player who can do that in the middle of the order and maximize his stats, rather than having him up front. So in the long run, we'd like to see him bat No. 3," said Kim, who is looking forward to his development.
