As of Tuesday, Kim had a monthly batting average of 0.329 (28 hits in 85 times at bat) in May. He is as good as he was in April (0.385) when he was named the monthly MVP of the professional baseball league. What should be noted is his long-distance shots. He had 10 homers and 14 steals during the month of April, achieving 10-10 (homer) to 10 (stealing) per month for the first time in the KBO league history, but he had two homers (four steals) in May. His monthly slugging percentage also dropped sharply from 0.750 in April to 0.459 in May.유흥알바
“I thought my timing was slow on fastballs these days. I also felt like my hands were not working on my fastballs,” Kim said, hinting at his concern. “I think my body is slow and I can’t respond to fastballs.” One of Kim’s strengths is his cheerful swing. Starting with the lower body, the process of rotating the body after the pelvis is opened is a series of cogwheels. “(Kim Do-yeong) excels in everything, including strength, quickness and turn (lower body rotation),” Choi Hyung-woo, a senior in the team, said in high praise. However, since May, his batting has not been very strong.
The root cause of the problem is that he suffered from severe enteritis. He lost 4 to 5 kilograms of weight due to his weakened immune system. As his strength declined, his batting distance also decreased. In particular, he was vulnerable to low-course fastballs outside the strike zone. He was also struggling during batting training before the game. In that sense, the home run he recorded against the NC Dinos in Changwon on the 29th was significant. Kim Do-young hit a 146km/h fastball by NC bullpen Kim Jae-yeol in the top of the seventh inning with a 5-3 lead over the right fence. It was a “weak course” that was difficult to target throughout May, but the result was different this time.
“It’s a meaningful home run,” Kim Do-young said. “I think I thought not to be late (for the timing) of the fastball. I saw where (Kim Jae-yeol’s fastball) came into the strike zone, and it was even better because it was hanging over the whole point,” he said. “I think I can show a better batting performance with this home run.”
His batting average for this season is high at 0.335 (72 hits in 215 times at bat). His OPS, which combines the on-base percentage (0.377) and the slugging percentage (0.567), is also seventh among 61 batters who met the stipulated batting average of 0.944. It is only a matter of time before he regains power in April once the production of long-distance shots is resumed.
“I definitely felt that players who play full time are amazing,” Kim said. “I think we need to adjust quickly and react quickly (to hit).” KIA manager Lee Bum-ho will likely manage Kim by controlling the playing time.
Kim Do-young, who had an eventful May, said, “I endured the month well. In June, I will do my best to recover my appearance in April. I think I need to bring out good parts such as activism in hitting.”