Only four games left.
You’re at the top of your game, but you can’t seem to get over the final hump. Four games to go, three home runs to hit, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to be easy. It’s a shame that I can’t seem to hit one instead of three.
San Diego Padres outfielder Kim Ha-seong’s bid to join the 20-homer, 20-double club will fall short. Kim started at second base against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on July 27 (KST), but was silent in five at-bats. He also struck out three times, showing that his batting average had dropped. The day before, he went 0-for-4. It’s a downward spiral.
He’s completely lost it in September. In September, he batted 1-for-6. His batting average, which was up to 2.9, is now down to 2.6 and 1. At the same time as his stamina was dropping, he developed an unexplained abdominal pain. He took almost a week off. But even with the rest, I wasn’t in a position to start smashing home runs. His bat speed was visibly slowing down.
When Kim hit his 17th home run of the season, a grand slam, against the Miami Marlins late last month, 20 home runs seemed like a given. He had been batting leadoff since the middle of the season and had been hitting at a tremendous pace, accumulating a frightening number of home runs.
He already had over 30 stolen bases. With 20 home runs, Kim would become only the second Korean major leaguer to join the 20-20 club, after Choo Shin-soo. He would also be the first Asian infielder to do so, as Choo also reached 20-20 three times, but never 20-30. In many ways, it was a historic season.
But then it happened. His batting average dropped off in September and he hasn’t hit a home run in over a month. Part of it is stamina, but it’s also possible that the attention paid to Kim’s 20-20 record in both Korea and the U.S. put him under so much pressure that he didn’t swing properly.
It’s hard to expect much from a player who hasn’t hit a single home run, except maybe one against San Francisco, where he showed signs of rebounding. It would be a shame to see Kim end the season with a 20-20 record. He’s done well enough, but a record would make him even more valuable as he looks to sign a new contract. All that remains is to hope for a miracle. 스포츠토토