Kang Baek-ho (KT, 25) has regained his reputation as a baseball genius. Kim Do-young (KIA), who was highly anticipated as the “second Lee Jong-beom” when he made his debut in 2022, is also showing performance worthy of the nickname “genius boy” in his third year. The two players tied for first place in home runs with Choi Jeong, Han Yu-seom (SSG), and Peraza (Hanwha) on Wednesday as their 11th home runs of this season.메이저사이트
Since he was a student at Seoul High School, he has shown talent in various fields, including pitching, catcher, and outfielder, and became the Rookie of the Year in 2018 when he made his debut season by hitting 29 home runs, drawing attention as a next-generation big gun. However, he has been far from a “baseball genius” for the past two seasons since he hit 16 home runs and 102 RBIs in 2021. In 2022, he hit only six home runs due to injury to his toes and thighs. He could not overcome mental anxiety and ended up with only eight home runs last year.
Kang’s revival began when he worked as a catcher this year. Due to the injury of his flagship catcher Jang Sung-woo, Kang wore a catcher’s mask in the second half of the match against the Hanwha Eagles on March 31. The “catcher” Kang displayed better-than-expected performance. He not only made a catch but also blocked well. Since then, coach Lee Kang-cheol started sending Kang as a starting catcher when Jang needed a break. Kang, who has regained his footing in the defense, has also regained confidence in hitting. Kang, who had only one homer in eight games in March, hit nine homers in 25 games in April, marking his first double-digit homerun in three seasons. As of Saturday, Kang had a batting average of 0.327, the most in the league, with 35 RBIs.
Kim Do-young, who was hamstrung by his injury last year, has also become an infielder with a goal of 30 homers and 30 steals. He recorded 10 homers and 14 stolen bases in 25 games in April. The monthly 10 homers and 10 steals are the first in the 43-year history of the professional baseball league. As of Thursday, Kim, who mainly plays as the second batter and third baseman, is at the top of the list in almost all attack categories with a batting average of 0.329, 11 homers, 27 RBIs, 33 runs and 14 stolen bases. He ranks first in scoring and second in stealing. If he maintains the current pace, he will be able to join the club “30 homers and 30 steals” for the first time in 24 years, following Park Jae-hong (then Hyundai, 32 homers and 30 steals) in 2000.