A 40-year-old KIA legend speaks the truth.
Kia has had its ups and downs this year. The long winning streak and the long losing streak are not opposites, but the ups and downs of the team’s performance are obvious. If the batting line-up doesn’t find their groove early on, they struggle throughout the game, sometimes for a whole week. On the other hand, when the batsmen get going early, they can easily produce big innings.
One of the most consistent players is the 40-year-old legend Choi Hyung-woo. The KIA legend has surpassed Doosan’s Lee Seung-yeop in career doubles this year. He will also become the No. 1 RBI hitter this season.
In 22 games in April, Choi hit .316 with three home runs, 12 RBIs, 13 doubles and 14 strikeouts, and in 17 games in May, he hit .333 with one home run, 13 RBIs, 11 doubles and 11 strikeouts. You can see that Avery is consistent. His batting pace is similar. They even have similar strikeout-to-walk ratios.토토사이트
He has his own strike zone. He proves with class that snow baseball is forever, even as he ages. His .423 on-base percentage this season is third in the league. Only LG tablesetters Moon Sung-ju (0.432) and Hong Chang-ki (0.429) are hitting better than Choi in the league this year.
It’s basically a matter of being able to distinguish between strikes and balls, as well as recognising and responding to subtle differences in umpire tendencies. In the case of LG Electronics in Gwangju on the 26th, Choi Hyung-woo went 2-for-5 with no walks and one strikeout, but he stayed in his zone and reacted calmly to the umpire’s somewhat dizzying calls.
KBSN Sports commentator Park Yong-taek, who broadcast the game, said, “Hitters who really see the ball well don’t touch pitches that cross the borderline,” and that’s exactly what Choi did. His strikeout in the seventh inning was a low, outside fastball from LG’s left-handed bullpen, Ham Deok-ju. It looked like it was out of play on the broadcast screen, but since it was near the borderline, Choi opted to watch, and it ended up being a strikeout. It was a pitch that Choi had no control over. It was also his 36th consecutive game of reaching base, dating back to 8 April against Gwangju Doosan.
The shift was exquisite. In both the fifth and ninth innings, LG’s infielders were camped out in the right field grass, but Choi was able to break through the shift with a harder hit, a near-truth. In the ninth inning, he even made an error with his best throw to the plate, keeping LG on their toes until the very end.
KIA struggles in the middle of the pack. There are some players who do their best with unreliable power and exceed expectations. Choi Hyung-woo is one of them. The 2023 season is proving why he is a legend. A run-scoring machine, an RBI machine, a double-scoring machine. He’s got plenty of nicknames to go around.