KIA Tigers’ “Genius Boy” infielder Kim Do-young was confident of rebounding from the somewhat slowed hitting trend in August. This is because he gained confidence that he can successfully correct the slump by detecting the problem.
With a batting average of 0.258 (8 hits in 31 at-bats) in August, Kim has shown a somewhat sagging batting trend compared to other periods.
Notably, no homers have been hit for six games since his 29th homer of this season against the Hanwha Eagles on Aug. 3, which seems to be delaying his becoming the youngest player to hit 30 homers and 30 steals. The youngest in this category was Park Jae-hong (then of the Hyundai Unicorns) at the age of 22 years, 11 months and 27 days in 1998.
“I heard that Kim Do-young has the hang of it now,” Kia Tigers coach Lee Bum-ho told reporters ahead of the game against the Kiwoom Heroes at Gocheok Stadium on Tuesday. “First of all, you need to get a hit to get a home run. Rather than paying attention to home runs, if you get the hang of it while continuing to hit, you will get a home run quickly. He is a fierce player in times of attack, so I will expect his performance this week,” Kia Tigers coach Lee Bum-ho said positively, predicting his team will achieve 30 home runs and 30 steals.
As Lee expected, Kim produced a good hit from the first batter’s box at the top of the first inning of the game on Wednesday. After being hit with a mistake in the top of the fourth and sixth innings, Kim got a walk at the batter’s box at the top of the eighth inning to get on base. The pitch was a bit avoided by the opposing pitcher because he was conscious of home runs.
Kim, who got on base as the first baseman, attempted to steal second base during Socrates’ at-bat, and succeeded. Kim, who stole second base for the season’s 32nd time, even scored valuable extra points when Socrates made a timely hit.
KIA won 2-0 as starting pitcher Nail pitched five scoreless innings and the bullpen, which started in the sixth inning, pitched a perfect pitch that did not yield a single point.
Kim Do-young, who met with reporters after the game, was confident that he had found a way to escape the recent hitting slump.
Kim Do-young said, “After last weekend’s game, I wanted to find a problem with my coach and the power analysis team. When I fall into a slump, my body tends to fall forward. I think that’s why I have more strikeouts. I kept revising to fix such problems, but I felt really good at bat today. I felt like I was holding him a little more from the back.”
If the opposing pitcher avoids the confrontation, Kim Do-young has enough ability to respond by stealing second base. In the game, Kim Do-young’s steal of second base also became a decisive moment that led to valuable additional points.
Kim Do-young said with a smile, “I think the walk came out because I threw more carefully thinking that the opposing pitcher should let me go rather than not try to hit a home run against me. Recently, the team’s batting lineup has not been working well, so I was thinking of playing somehow if I go out. I felt good because the success of stealing led to a decisive additional score. I’m satisfied because the part I practiced today came out with a good result.”
Kim is aiming to become the youngest player to hit 30 homers and 30 steals again in the game against Kiwoom in Gocheok on July 14. The starting pitcher is Furado. Kim has a good memory of hitting a home run off Furado in an away game in Gocheok on July 27. Attention is focusing on whether Kim will be able to break away from the ever-long nine moves and reach the 30-homer mark this season. 안전놀이터
