Even if you try not to give meaning to him as a ‘backup player’, you can’t help it. The more the KIA Tigers Keystone combination continues to slump, the more eagerly awaits the return of prospect Kim Do-young (20).
Gwangju Daeseong Elementary School – Gwangju Dongseong Middle School – Kim Do-young, who graduated from Gwangju Dongseong High School, is the last designated player selected by KIA in the first nomination system that was abolished after the 2022 KBO League rookie draft. As a shortstop with quick feet and excellent athletic ability that even major league scouts admired, he was a super-sized prospect who earned the nickname ‘the second Lee Jong-beom’.
The KIA internal evaluation was no different. His highest batting speed was between the late 160 km/h and the early 170 km/h, and his ranking in the top 3 after Na Seong-beom (34) along with Lee Woo-seong (29) was definitely different. Cho Seung-beom, KIA power analysis coach, said, “Kim Do-young is very athletic. If he develops more hitting skills here, I think he will really become an all-time player.” Because of his excellent delivery ability, he gets a lot of strong hits and distances compared to his body size. As his athletic ability is so excellent, if he establishes himself in the at-bat, he expects to get much better results than now.”
However, due to continued unexpected injuries, he has not been able to produce any noticeable results until now, his second year as a pro. Last year, he was unable to properly build his body due to a new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) and entered the season, and it was twisted from the start. He has been sidelined so far this year due to a left metatarsal injury during base running in the opening series against SSG Landers.
However, looking at KIA’s recent games, I keep waiting for the return of the ‘backup’ prospect, who is scheduled to return in early July at the earliest. Keystone combination shortstop Park Chan-ho (28) – second baseman Kim Seon-bin (34) have minor regrets that keep getting stepped on in their eyes. The match against Gocheok Kiwoom, which was defeated 0-1 on the 13th, was the same.
On this day, the mound that ranked 4th in the league in team ERA (3.65) remained intact. Ace Yang Hyeon-jong, who had collapsed with an ERA of 22.74 in the last two games, fought hard with 5 hits, 5 hits, 6 strikeouts and 1 run (0 ERA) in 5 innings. Park Joon-pyo (1 inning), Jang Hyeon-shik (⅔ innings), Lee Jun-young (⅔ innings), Lim Ki-yeong (⅔ innings) also continued a tense 1-point game with scoreless pitching.
The beasts just didn’t help. While struggling with a total of 5 hits, Kim Seon-bin, who was in charge of the 5th hitter, failed to hit again with no hits in 4 at bats. He is a solid hitter with a batting average of 30% every month and an OPS of over 0.7, but in June he fell into a batting slump with a batting average of 0.200 and an OPS of 0.562. Looking at just the past week, he is recording unsuitable results as a 5th batter with a batting average of 0.059 (1 hit in 17 at bats) and an OPS of 0.297, including no hits in 4 at-bats that day.
The defense didn’t help either. In particular, shortstop Park Chan-ho’s mistake in not catching Lee Jung-hoo (Kiwoom)’s ground ball that came straight at him in the first inning played a big role as it led to the only run that day. With this, Chan-ho Park made the 10th most errors of the season and the 4th most errors among league infielders. Following the game against Doosan in Jamsil on the 9th, which showed an animalistic jump catch, it is not that there is no outstanding defense, such as chasing and catching Lee Jeong-hoo’s ball to the left foul line in the 3rd inning, but the inability to catch the ball that should be dealt with causes anxiety in the infield. There are increasing cases of메이저사이트
The unfortunate thing is that this problem with the system of shortstop Park Chan-ho and second baseman Kim Sun-bin, which has been established since 2020, is repeated every year. Among the shortstops in the team, Park Chan-ho, who has the best defense, and Kim Sun-bin, a solid franchise star with a batting average of over 30% and an OPS of over 0.7 every year, have become a reason that any manager cannot give up easily in terms of stability. However, while Park Chan-ho records more than 15 mistakes every year (24 in 2021, the personal highest), he has never achieved an OPS of 0.690 or higher, and Kim Sun-bin has consistently made more than 10 double hits every year due to his slow foot (19 in 2021, the personal highest). ), the defensive range as a second baseman is getting narrower. It is meaningless to maintain the status quo in the absence of development.
Kim Do-young is evaluated as a talent who can change the hardened Park Chan-ho-Kim Sun-bin system. Although he said he showed an uneasy defense last year, the coaches also know that it is because he did not properly digest spring camp due to Corona 19. No one denies that he is also a player who should become a key player in the KIA infield someday.
His career record was a batting average of 0.246, 3 home runs, 20 RBIs, 38 runs scored and 14 stolen bases, an on-base percentage of 0.318 and a slugging percentage of 0.366. To put it bluntly, if you look only at superficial results, Kim Do-young is a backup infielder whose strength cannot be expected to rise significantly even if he returns. However, the current KIA is receiving praise from major league scouts and needs a change of perception in the infield to be brought by a backup called the second Lee Jong-beom.