Left-handed AVG .490, .391 in August, extreme KIA captain, spot too big to fill

Captain’s batting gap is too big.

KIA drew an upward curve in the second half of the season, but took a step back last week with a 1-3 record. It looked like they were turning into the black, but they’re back in the red. The 5 per cent win rate is tough. They are not even close to the top five. In fact, they are 1.5 games behind Lotte. The biggest change was the loss of captain Kim Sun-bin.온라인바카라

Kim led the batting line-up in April and May with a 3-for-3 batting average. However, he struggled in June, hitting just 2-for-3 and 1-for-3 in July. He fractured his right thumb while fielding a ball and missed 20 days. It was expected that he would be out for a long time, but he recovered quickly and joined the batting line-up early.

His bat didn’t quite catch fire, but he rebounded in August. In six games, he went 9-for-23 with two doubles, a triple, and seven RBIs. In the sixth spot in the batting order, he took advantage of chances created by the Athletics trio of Park Chan-ho, Choi Won-joon and Kim Do-young, and the cleanup trio of Na Sung-beom and Choi Hyung-woo Socrates.

However, a sudden hamstring injury forced him out of the line-up on the 8th. With Kim dropping out of the top six, the lower order became a deflated balloon. The batting line-up was also disjointed. They scored 13 runs in a big win on the 12th, but in the remaining three games, they scored just two runs (against LG Electronics on the 9th), one run (against Lotte on the 11th), and one run (against Lotte on the 13th). That’s four points in three games.

[OSEN=Suwon, Kyuhan Choi, reporter] On the afternoon of the 8th, a game between the KT Wiz and the KIA Tigers in the ‘2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League’ was held at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi-do.In the top of the first inning, Choi Hyung-woo greeted Kim Sun-bin after the KIA Socrates hit a run-scoring single. 2023.07.08 / dreamer@osen.co.kr

[OSEN=Gochuk, Min Kyung-hoon] On the afternoon of the 14th, a game between Kiwoom Heroes and KIA Tigers in the ‘2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League’ was held at the Gochuk Sky Dome in Seoul.In the bottom of the third inning, with the bases loaded and Kiwoom’s Lee Hyung-jong at bat, first baseman Lee Yong-gyu tries to steal second base and is tagged out by KIA second baseman Kim Sun-bin. 14 April 2023 /rumi@osen.co.kr
With Kim Sun-bin out of the lineup, Kim Jong-kook used a different batting order against LG on the 9th, with Park Chan-ho batting second, Socrates sixth, and Kim Kyu-sung ninth. However, the cohesion was not there. Against Lotte on the 11th, they batted Hwang Dae-in at number six, but he went hitless. The batting lineup also managed only one run on nine hits and two walks.

Against Lotte on the 13th, Lee Chang-jin batted sixth and Hwang Dae-in seventh against left-handed pitcher Charlie Barnes, but no hits came. Kim Sun-bin was 3-for-6 against Barnes. What’s more, he’s a phenomenal 4 for 9 against lefties this year. Without him, the batting order was disrupted.

Kim Kyu-sung, who played second base in place of Kim, made a series of crucial defensive errors. Kim Kyu-sung’s defence was superior to Kim Sun-bin’s, but he missed some crucial hits at crucial times. Lee Chang-jin at third base, Kim Do-young at shortstop, and Park Chan-ho at second base were used briefly, but it didn’t work as Kim made an error.

Kim is expected to return on the 18th if all goes well. The team will be without Kim for the next three games against last-place Kiwoom this week. KIA has the task of making up the deficit in the three-game series. Minimising Kim’s absence will be key to their success. /sunny@osen.co.kr

[OSEN=Gocheok, Lee Dae-sun] On the afternoon of the 16th, a game between the Kiwoom Heroes and the KIA Tigers of the ‘2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League’ was held at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul.KIA’s Kim Sun-bin, who complained of leg discomfort while fielding in the first inning, is helped to the dugout by a trainer. 2