There are very few 20-year-olds like KIA’s Kim Do-young (20) in the 42-year history of the franchise, including the former Hattae Tigers.
Kim suffered a major injury just two games into this season, breaking a bone in his foot. On April 2 against the Incheon SSG Landers, Kim twisted his ankle while running home from second base, and a medical examination revealed a fractured left metatarsal (left instep). The news was even more devastating as he prepared for his second season with great motivation. He was dropped from the first team roster on April 3 and had to take nearly three months off before returning on June 23.
However, the prolonged absence didn’t dampen his talent. Kim quickly found his groove, batting .293 with six home runs, 42 RBIs, and 23 stolen bases in 73 games, showing why he’s been considered a top talent since his amateur days. Not only is he producing hits with an average bat speed of 136.1 kilometers per hour, which ranks sixth on the team, but he’s also living up to the hype, ranking among the top 10 in the league in stolen bases despite playing nearly half as many games as the rest of the competition.
He also had a big game in the first game of Suwon’s doubleheader against KT Wiz on April 4. Starting at second base and batting third, Kim went 2-for-3 with a double, a home run, a walk, and two RBIs in the team’s 10-2 win. She opened the scoring with a two-run homer to left field in the top of the second inning to make it 1-0, and then laid down a sacrifice bunt with the bases loaded in the top of the fourth inning to make it 3-1. In the top of the sixth, he led off with a single to left and came around to score on Socrates Brito’s single to right on a bases-loaded walk.
With his 87th hit of the season, Kim moved into a tie for fifth place on the club’s all-time list of right-handed hitters under the age of 20, including his HaeTae days, with Ahn Chi-hong (now with the Lotte Giants), who had 87 hits in 123 games in 2009. Despite a nearly three-month hiatus, Kim followed in the footsteps of Hong Hyun-woo (1992-140 hits), Ahn Chi-hong (2010-134 hits), and Jeong Sung-hoon (2000-119 hits, 1999-107 hits) as the most talented right-handers in the club’s history, and is third all-time in RBIs behind Hong Hyun-woo (1992-97 RBIs) and Ahn Chi-hong (2010-50 RBIs).
With Kim’s talent, KIA can continue to challenge for a postseason berth. “Kim Do-young’s two-run homer in the first inning of today’s game helped turn the momentum in our favor,” said Kia head coach Kim Jong-kook after the game. 스포츠토토
Leave a Reply