61st base face. He’s the second Lee Jongbeom

No matter how talented she is, she is agonizing over whether to grow. As Kim Do-young (21) emerged as a five-tool player in earnest, the KIA Tigers is also agonizing over the direction of her growth.

In the 2022 KBO rookie draft, KIA chose Kim Do-young instead of fastball right-hander Moon Dong-ju (21, Hanwha Eagles) who threw 154 kilometers per hour because of his various tools. When he was at Dongseong High School in Gwangju, Kim Do-young was called the “second Lee Jong-beom” along with the evaluation that he was a five-tool player (player with long-hitting power, contact, speed, defense, and throwing capabilities). “I think there has been a shortstop in our area with all the ball, water, and stocks for a long time,” said Cho Gye-hyun (60), the former general manager who finally chose Kim Do-young at the time. “I thought he was a versatile and highly likely player to develop. We also judged that we needed more because our infield depth was not thick. Now that Kim Do-young is here, I don’t think we need to worry about paying for the next 10 years.”

The most notable tool among the five tools was the overwhelming speed at which he reached the first base from home in just 3.96 seconds when he was in high school. Even Cho Jae-young, 44, Kia’s first base running coach who raised Kim Hye-sung (25, Kia Tigers) in 2021 and Park Chan-ho (29, Kia Tigers) as the top stealers in the KBO league in 2022, was impressed. During last year’s spring camp, Cho said, “Kim Do-young is overwhelmingly physical. He is definitely the top in our team in terms of speed, and in terms of the overall league, he is similar to Kim Hye-sung. (Kim) Do-young is also the starting pitcher in good health, and with experience, he can steal 50 bases in a single season. He highly praised him, saying, “I can steal many bases every year.”

As coach Cho predicted, healthy Kim Do-young is competing for the top stealer with a 100% success rate. Kim added another stealer in the game against Kiwoom in Gocheok on Monday, and tied for second in the league with Kim Ji-chan (23) with 11 steals. He is five points shorter than the leader Park Hae-min (34) of the LG Twins. Among the players who recorded more than 10 points, only Kim Do-young and Kim Ji-chan did not fail to steal.

Converting it to 144 games, the pace of 61 steals is even more surprising because the figure came despite self-restraint. KIA manager Lee Bum-ho (43) is urging his players this season not to run at full speed when they are in a bad condition. Ahead of the match against Kiwoom in Gocheok on Monday, Lee said, “It is not important to run 100 percent unconditionally. Looking at the whole season, it is an ability and an essential part of the team to play games while refraining from playing games when you are not feeling well. That is why players are allowed to run 100 percent when they are in a good condition, but 70 to 80 percent when they are not.” In response, Kim Do-young said, “It is a physical problem. I am also tired.”

This means that there is a possibility that he will maintain this pace until the end of the season unlike other players whose pace is getting slower. It will not be easy, but in that case, Kim will reach 60 steals, which only six players including former coach Lee Jong-beom (54) have stepped on in the 43-year history of the KBO League. The speed and performance are worthy of the modifier Lee Jong-beom.

Kim is currently tied for third in the category with nine homers, but he has strong perception that he is a player who makes hits and steals bases rather than hitters. “I’m not conscious of home runs at all. I rather want to run more. I want to steal bases more than homeruns. I like baseball more like that. I think baseball that makes the stadium more enthusiastic while running is more suitable for me. A home run can create such an atmosphere, but I want to create such an atmosphere by running. Both are the best, but I don’t think I can support my physical strength,” Kim said in a frank statement.

However, coach Lee Bum-ho is not actively recommending Kim to steal bases. As mentioned earlier, there are concerns that he will not be able to maintain his physical and physical condition until the end of the season due to many stolen bases. The reason was that he suffered several major injuries in less than three years since his debut. Kim had to suffer a fracture of his left metatarsal bone in the fifth metatarsal bone in early last season, and after the season ended, he was diagnosed with a ruptured internal collateral ligament and flexural fracture of his left thumb and had to undergo rehabilitation for four months while running base at the 2023 Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) finals in Tokyo, Japan in November.

Another reason why he could not easily give up the possibility of “big gun” Kim Do-young was his outstanding talent. It was a pity that a prospect who could hit 30 home runs with the league’s best batting speed and quickness only spent his talent on hits and steals. Coach Lee already explained Kim Do-young’s growth direction in the match against the Incheon SSG Landers on the 18th.

“(Kim) Do-young’s batting speed is as fast as Na Sung-bum’s in the actual game,” Lee said at the time. “That’s why I thought when I first heard that he was a player who could hit 20 to 30 home runs,” he said. “Before then, Do-young was stuck in the stereotype that he was a player who had to make a hit and steal a base. On the contrary, I thought he was a player who could hit enough home runs because he was fast at batting, and I told him to make sure he would make some more pitches.”
It is well known that home runs are better than stolen bases in terms of scoring productivity. Even at Kia, where the proportion of home run hitters is concentrated on veterans such as Na Sung-bum and Choi Hyung-woo (41), the existence of a young big gun could not be easily given up. “If you can run with a certain number of stolen bases and hit long balls (as many as you reduce them), it can be of great help to your team. If you steal too many bases, you will have a higher chance of getting injured. Even if you save a little bit of your talent in stealing, I thought it would be much better for your team if you increase your talent in other aspects,” Lee said.

Kim Do-young, who has been assigned to No. 3 as Lee expected and is playing clean-up batting order, is filling Na Sung-bum’s vacancy perfectly. As he has not lost the strength of his fast feet, his destructive power is doubled. A case in point was the match against Kiwoom in Gocheok on May 23-24.

 

BY: 토토사이트