Kim joined Kia as the first draft pick for the 2022 Rookie Draft and recorded a batting average of 277 (or 156 hits in 564 at-bats) in 187 games during his first two years as a pro player, with 10 homers, 66 RBIs, 109 runs and 38 steals, OPS 765. He showed full potential, but his injury has hampered him.
However, Kim has fully displayed his potential this year after going through hardships. He is enjoying his best season with a batting average of 347 (66 hits in 479 times at bat) with 35 homers, 98 RBIs, 124 runs, 36 steals, and OPS of 1.072. He has achieved various true records and records including 10 homers-10 steals per month for the first time in the KBO League, the natural cycling hit with the least at-bats, 20 homers-20 steals in the first half of his career, and 30 homers-30 steals in the youngest and the smallest game in his career.토토사이트
Kim Do-young has already made a historic season, but still has a lot of records waiting for her. The record that most fans want is by far the second 40 home runs and 40 steals in the KBO league. In the history of the KBO league, 30 home runs and 30 steals came out nine times, including Kim Do-young, but Eric Thames (47 home runs and 40 steals) was the only batter who achieved 40 home runs and 40 steals in 2015. Among Korean hitters, based on the number of stolen bases of Hong Hyun-woo (34 home runs and 31 steals), Lee Jong-beom (30 home runs and 64 steals) in 1997 and Park Jae-hong (30 home runs and 43 steals) in 1998 were close, but they failed to achieve 40 home runs and 40 steals.
Kim, who currently has 35 homers to 36 steals, is maintaining the pace of 40 homers to 41 steals. Kia has 18 remaining games to play. If it has five homers to four steals in the remaining 18 games, it can set a new record. It is not easy, but it is not impossible.
Kim is also challenging Seo Geon-chang’s record of the most goals scored (135 points) in a single season in 2014. Kim, who currently has 124 points, has a pace of 142 points for this season. If Kim maintains his current pace to the end, he is highly likely to achieve the goal. As scoring is a record that Kim cannot achieve alone except for homers, the key to this is for Kia’s slugging line, which ranks first in points per game (5.94 points), to maintain a strong sense of hitting sense throughout the season.
In the Japanese professional baseball league, achieving a .300 batting average with 30 home runs and 30 steals is called the “triple three.” In the KBO league, most hitters who achieved 30 home runs and 30 steals, including Lee Jong-beom in 1997, Hong Hyun-woo in 1999, Lee Byung-kyu in 1999, Jay Davis in 1999, Park Jae-hong in 2000 and Thames in 2015, achieved the triple three together.
[OSEN = Daegu, Reporter Lee Seok-woo] On the 1st, a 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League match between the Samsung Lions and the KIA Tigers was held at Daegu Samsung Lions Park. The home team was Won Tae-in and the visiting team was Stout. KIA Tigers’ Kim Do-young hit a solo home run to left-center in the top of the seventh inning and is on the ground. 2024.09.01 / foto0307@osen.co.kr
However, adding 100 RBIs and 100 runs scored is a different story. Thames (batting average .381 47 homers, 140 RBIs, 130 runs and 40 steals) in 2015 and Park Jae-hong (batting average .309 32 homers, 115 RBIs, 101 runs and 30 steals) in 2000. If Kim maintains a batting average of .300 in the remaining 18 games and adds five homers, two RBIs and four steals, he will become the third batter to achieve this record.
If Kim achieves such a large number of records, the league MVP will naturally follow suit. If Kim wins this year’s MVP, he can also break Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop’s record of becoming the youngest hitter (21 years, 1 month and 14 days) achieved by winning the MVP in 1997.
Fans are paying keen attention to how Kim Do-young, who is increasingly likely to decorate the season with a milestone until the end of the season, will finish the season.