“I liked the third baseman who hit a lot of home runs. I think I’ll see him in the Major League in the future.”
The “2024 Premier 12” has become a stage where Kim Do-young (21, KIA Tigers) made his presence known to the world. Kim Do-young proved why he is a Korean superstar with a batting average of 0.412, three homers, 10 RBIs, and an OPS of 1.503 in five games of this year’s KBO League. Kim had a batting average of 0.347 (189 hits in 544 at-bats), 38 homers, 40 steals, 109 RBIs, 143 runs, and OPS of 1.067 in 141 games of the KBO League this year. As he became the youngest player to steal 30 homers and 30 steals in KBO history, he was introduced as “Shohei Ohtani (LA Dodgers) of Korea” by Japanese media.
Kia should be determined to lose Kim to the U.S. Major League Baseball. Scouts from multiple U.S. Major League teams visited the stadium to check on Kim. Of course, there is still a lot of time for Kim, who is now in his third year as a professional, to enter the Major League through the posting system, but Major League teams have already started to pile up Kim Do-young’s data one by one. Kim did not stop playing at the upcoming World Baseball Classic event and made no secret of his desire to play more on the international stage. At the next international competition, the 2026 World Baseball Classic, he also expressed his strong commitment to make up for his shortcomings and grow further to elevate Korea to a higher ranking. 토토사이트
The legendary major leaguer also paid attention to Kim’s talent. Nelson Cruz, a big shot with 464 home runs in the big leagues, visited Taipei, Taiwan to help his native Dominican Republic, which is in Group B of the first round with Korea. Cruz announced his retirement from the big leagues for 19 years after the 2023 season and posted a career record of 2055 games, a batting average of 0.274 (2053 hits in 7501 times at bat), 464 home runs and 1325 RBIs.
Cruise naturally mentioned Kim Do-young as a player who stood out in the analysis of Korea. “I liked third baseman (Kim Do-young), who hit a lot of home runs,” he told SPOTV. “I think we can see him in the future in the Major League. There have been cases where players from Taiwan, Korea and Japan are playing in the U.S., and I think he is a talented player. I think he will be able to advance to the big leagues later on.”
Kim Do-young not only led the Korean batters’ attacks throughout this tournament, but also showed his growth as a complete player by catching strong and fast balls flying to third base.
Of course, Kim herself was dissatisfied. She remained silent with two strikeouts and no hits in four times at bat in the match against Japan, which was the most important. Japanese pitchers were generally good, but she never gave Kim a good pitch so that I could feel how thoroughly Japan analyzed Kim Do-young. Kim felt so good batting ahead of the upcoming competition that she twisted herself when she played the bat so aggressively.
Kim Do-young said, “First of all, I felt so good. When I was at the batter’s box, I felt a little bad about just trying to hit it. I kept touching the ball and taking the count with difficulty, which is a little disappointing. I had a lot of homework on what to do in the future, and I think it will be a good opportunity in my baseball life, so I had a really good experience,” promising to take it to the next season.
Despite Kim Do-young’s performance, Korea was eliminated as she ranked third in Group B with three wins and two losses in the group league. It is the first time that Korea failed to advance to the Super Round at the Premier 12. In the previous two competitions, Korea won the title and was the runner-up. Although the national team consisted of young players focused on generational change, it had no choice but to admit that it was lagging behind Japan and Taiwan, which ranked first and second in the group.
After confirming her elimination from the match against Australia on Saturday, Kim displayed a furious display of batting performance. Due to the pain in her pelvis, she started the game as the third designated hitter and led the team to a 5-2 victory by making three hits (one homer) from four times at bat and hitting four RBIs.
Korean coach Ryu Joong-il said, “Young players did a better job than I thought. I think Kim Do-young did everything, especially the bullpen and the batters. I hope other players do well besides Kim Do-young.” Kim Do-young’s presence was so special.
“Many fans came and it was raining, and I wanted to catch it more than any other game,” Kim said calmly after the competition. “I’m glad I won. It was an opportunity to prepare for the upcoming international competition. Rather, I think it’s good.”
“I will not be satisfied because my batting performance is good at this year’s championship,” Kim said. “I will sharpen my skills and improve my performance so that Korea can shine with good results, not just individual players.” Kim promised to lead Korea to the top round at the 2026 WBC, which will take place 15 months later.
“Compared to last year, I wanted to make up for it as I failed to display performance in all games (in APBC). This time, it was okay except against Japan. Unfortunately, I have strengthened my commitment to display performance as a team,” Kim said, making people anticipate a more talented hitter who will become stronger.
