[아주돋보기] Kim Do-young became the best star in KBO only because of you… A ‘baseball monster’ that is scarier because it is not satisfied

KIA Kim Do-young, who was selected as the regular season MVP, is taking a commemorative photo with the trophy at the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO Awards held at Lotte Hotel World in Songpa-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 26th. [사진=연합뉴스]

The boy who was called ‘the next Lee Jong-beom’ has now become the best star in the KBO League. This is the story of KIA Tigers infielder Kim Do-young.

Kim Do-young was selected as MVP at the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO Awards held at the World Crystal Ballroom of Lotte Hotel in Seoul at 2 p.m. on the 26th.

On this day, Doyoung Kim gave his acceptance speech in an MVP-like manner. He showed off his outstanding comments by using “I have to live because of you,” which KIA fans sang to him, and “There are days like that,” which he popularized.

He said, “You know, there are days like that. I think there were many days after I joined the team where I couldn’t see the future due to negative thoughts and was full of negative thoughts. At that time, I told myself, ‘Trust in yourself. Someone will find comfort in you later on.’ “I think of something someone said, and I hope people who remember those days can find comfort in me.” He then expressed his love for his fans, saying, “I also lived this year because of my fans.”

The burden of ‘Mungim Daejeon’ that must have been suppressed after joining?… The sluggish performance that fell below expectations raised Kim Do-young.

The first game of a doubleheader between the professional baseball Hanwha Eagles and the KIA Tigers held at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on June 23. KIA Kim Do-young came out as the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the fourth inning and hit a solo home run off Hanwha Ryu Hyun-jin’s pitch. Kim Do-young achieved 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases with this home run. [사진=연합뉴스]

During his time at Gwangju Dongseong High School, Kim Do-young was called ‘the next Lee Jong-beom.’ Equipped with quick feet, sophisticated contact ability, and power, he was expected to grow into a ‘5-tool player’.

However, Kim Do-young had a strong rival in the region. There was Gwangju Jinheung High School pitcher Moon Dong-ju, who was considered the biggest high school pitcher at the time. Some people called the KIA Tigers’ first round pick in the 2022 KBO draft a ‘Moon Kim Daejeon’. Still, as the saying goes, ‘a pitcher is worth gold,’ the majority opinion was whether pitcher Moon Dong-ju would be ahead of infielder Kim Do-young.

Nevertheless, contrary to expectations, KIA chose Kim Do-young. It was evaluated that the scarcity value of a 5-tool player infielder is higher than that of a fastball pitcher. Until last year, there were many evaluations that the Hanwha Eagles benefited from acquiring Moon Dong-ju through KIA’s selection.

While Kim Do-young’s growth was somewhat slow, Moon Dong-ju became a member of the national team by hitting a ball in his mitt exceeding 160 km per hour. Moon Dong-ju even received a military exemption by winning a gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games. However, this year, Kim Do-young showed a ‘burning’ season, and Moon Dong-ju performed poorly with an earned run average (ERA) of 5.17, proving that KIA’s choice was not wrong. It was Kim Do-young who truly changed the tide of the ‘Mun Kim Daejeon’.

10 home runs and 10 stolen bases per month… The youngest player to hit 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases, the leader of the KBO

Doyoung Kim [사진=연합뉴스]

Kim Do-young showed ‘syndromic’ performance this year.

Last April, he attracted attention by recording 10 home runs and 10 stolen bases per month for the first time in the KBO League. He also made new history by becoming the youngest player in the KBO League to hit 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases. He also created the first cycling hit of the 2024 season.

With these performances added, his final performance this year is a batting average of 0.347, 38 home runs, 189 hits, 109 RBI, 40 stolen bases, and an OPS of 1.067. In addition, KIA, with Kim Do-young, won its 12th championship. It was a season that proved how scary a ‘5-tool player’ can be if he develops as expected during his high school days.

I’m not satisfied with MVP either… “80 points because of defense”

KIA Kim Do-young, who was selected as the regular season Most Valuable Player (MVP), is taking a commemorative photo at the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO Awards Ceremony held at Lotte Hotel World in Songpa-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 26th. [사진=연합뉴스]

However, Kim Do-young was not satisfied even though he received the MVP award. Rather, I dreamed of greater growth.

At the awards ceremony on this day, Kim Do-young was asked to rate the 2024 season with a score and answered “80 points.” At the same time, he expressed his disappointment in defense. Unlike his natural batting performance, Kim Do-young made frequent mistakes in defense this year. Committed 30 errors, the most in the league.

Therefore, Kim Do-young announced his intention to maintain his excellent batting performance while improving his defense, which is his weak point. If ‘hitting genius’ Kim Do-young can perfect his defense, the birth of a future major leaguer seems inevitable.

Kim Do-young’s baseball skills are attracting attention from overseas… The birth of a future major leaguer?

The match between Korea and Australia in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 2024 Group B held at Tianmu Stadium in Taipei, Taiwan on the afternoon of the 18th. In the bottom of the third inning, with one out and runners on second base, Kim Do-young hits a timely hit with one RBI. [사진=연합뉴스]

In fact, Kim Do-young showed off his true value to people around the world at the 2024 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12 tournament, which ended on the 24th.

He played in 5 Premier 12 games and showed outstanding performance with a batting average of 0.412, 3 home runs, 10 RBIs, 4 runs, and an OPS of 1.503. Foreign media also paid attention to Kim Do-young’s appearance.

For example, Japanese media ‘The Answer’ reported on the 18th, “Korea national baseball team infielder Kim Do-young is attracting the attention of Japanese fans at the 2024 WBSC Premier 12.”

In this way, Doyoung Kim has truly proven his skills on the international stage. Since he has received attention from major league scouts since his high school days, his chances of becoming a major leaguer in the future have increased.

If Kim Do-young, who announced the birth of a ‘monster hitter’ with his dominant performance in the KBO, continues to grow, he could become a new ‘mainstay’ of Korean baseball. As befits his nickname of ‘the next Lee Jong-beom’, he will be highly valued in the KBO League and advance directly to the major leagues a few years later, like San Francisco Giants outfielder Lee Jeong-hoo (6 years, $113 million, approximately 157.7 billion won), ‘Lee Jong-beom’s son’. There is growing interest in whether it can be done.

Reporter Lee Kun-hee topkeontop12@ajunews.com