“It’s hard, it’s hard, thinking it’s hard makes it harder….”
Year three. Kim Do-young (21-KIA Tigers) is having a season that will go down in KBO history.
In 103 games this season, Kim is batting .355 with 29 home runs, 30 doubles, 82 RBIs, and a 1.067 OPS. With one more home run, he will become the ninth player in history and the youngest to reach 30 home runs and 30 doubles. The current record for the youngest 30-homer, 30-steal season is 22 years, 11 months, and 27 days held by Park Jae-hong in 1996. If Kim achieves it this season, he will do so at age 20.
The outlook is bright. Kia manager Lee Bum-ho expects Do-young to hit between 35 and 40 home runs this season. He’s not stealing bases at the moment to maintain his fitness. He’s ready to steal bases whenever he gets close, so he could become the second player in history to reach 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases after Eric Thames (NC) in 2015.
Kim’s biggest strength is his consistency. Aside from a late start in March, when he went 1-for-5 in six games, he has maintained a batting average of at least 3 percent every month from April through July. In July, he went 4-for-7.
The secret to her steady performance is her unique mind control.
“I think my body became sluggish because it suddenly got hot. Whenever I thought that it was hard, I thought, ‘I’m in the best shape of my life,’ so I thought, ‘I’m in the best shape of my life,’ 메이저사이트 and I’m glad that part paid off.” “I’m trying to stay out of the sun as much as possible,” he said of his fitness tips during the heat wave. I try to minimize movement. I’m trying to eat well,” he said.
“I haven’t been in good batting form lately,” he said, but his manager was humble. “It was just one or two games (where I didn’t get many hits), but I kept getting one or two hits. I haven’t been off-balance except in the opening game. I think he’s maintained it really well.”
There were also differing views on the 29 home runs against Hanwha in Daejeon on March 3. “I felt like I was a little bit behind,” Kim said. I thought it would go over, but I thought it might be foul, so I watched it until the end,” Kim said, pointing out that it was a home run that came at a bad time. However, Lee said, “It was the hardest ball I’ve ever hit from that height. You have your own stance and you think it’s perfect if you hit a home run from that stance, but you can only hit a home run if you hit a high outside pitch. It wasn’t a miss, it was a good hit, and it didn’t deflect. The ball didn’t curve because the pitcher didn’t push the bat against it. “It was a good hit,” he said.
Although he was strict with himself, he was also looking forward to the power of the rebound. “When you’re not hitting well, you don’t get better right away,” Kim said. As you keep hitting, you gain confidence, and then the feeling of hitting comes back, so I hope the home run (No. 29) will help the team move up.”