Kim Hyun-soo, the No. 2 free agent chaebol (contract totaling 23 billion won) and LG’s signature hitter, has had an up-and-down April and May. In 23 games in April, he batted .400 with 32 hits in 80 at-bats, one home run, 17 RBIs, and 14 runs scored. He struck out just six times while drawing 15 walks. He led the league in batting average in April.
But in May, he’s 11-for-71 with a .155 batting average, four home runs, and five RBIs in 18 games. That’s the lowest batting average in the league in May. Kim Hyun-soo, who we watched against the Gwangju Kia on April 26-27, had a wandering right leg the entire time. His form kept changing, from toe-tapping pitches with his leg practically in the batter’s box to one-legged pitches with his leg out in front of him.
One hit in eight at-bats in two days. In five games this week, he’s 2-for-18, and in his last 10 games, he’s 9-for-38, batting .237. His season average is down to .285. He hasn’t looked like a hitting machine. Manager Yoon Kyung-yeop hasn’t made many changes to Kim’s batting order lately, other than dropping him from third to fifth to keep things flowing as smoothly as possible.
“He’s getting better and better,” Yeom said before the 27th game against Gwangju KIA. “I’m going to go with him (McCann) because I know (his best form),” he said.
Yeom analyzed the quality of Kim’s shots when he was hitting with a slight leg kick. “When it’s good, he lifts like this (demonstrating a leg kick himself) and then goes ‘bang’, but now it’s not good, so he follows the upper body first without any takeback. There are no leg kicks at all. The time to the ball is shorter. When you do a leg kick, you have more time to look at the ball, but it’s not good, so I’m looking at the ball less (because I’m getting impatient).”
In other words, he’s in a hurry to hit the ball. “Then my strike zone is gone. You have to take your swing regardless of the result. (Moon) Sung-joo is like that, (Hong) Chang-gi is like that, (Park) Dong-won is like that, and even when he fouls out, he swings. Since I can’t swing, my timing is not right.” 메이저사이트
LG continued to play well in May. The 27th game didn’t go well, but overall, the offense and defense work together like cogs. Even when they’re not at 100%, they paradoxically show the power of depth. LG’s batting lineup is also organized to the point where there is virtually no distinction between the top and bottom of the lineup, so Kim Hyun-soo’s slump isn’t as noticeable.
However, for Kim Hyun-soo, it’s a matter of pride as a signature hitter. In a way, he’s been bad all of May, so it’s time for him to get better. According to Yoon, he is improving in the big picture, so LG fans shouldn’t be impatient.