In KT, the conditions of the top and bottom lineups were clearly different this season. Starting with Kim Min-hyuk, Kang Baek-ho, Anthony Alford, and Park Byeong-ho, the center batting line is wielding hard hits every day, but the lower batting order loses weight and fails to show cohesion.
This is because injured players such as outfielder Bae Jung-dae and infielder Hwang Jae-gyun have appeared one after another. Finally, on the 16th, Kang Hyeon-woo, the ‘third catcher’, was promoted to the first team. It was a calculation to enhance the competitiveness of the lower lineup by using ‘second catcher’ Kim Jun-tae, who has a good sense of hitting, as the designated hitter, and Kang Hyun-woo supporting ‘main catcher’ Jang Seong-woo.
And it proved how scary it can be when KT’s bottom line explodes.
KT exploded 15 hits in the match against Hanwha held at KT Wiz Park in Suwon that day and won a sweeping 14-2 victory.
On this day, ‘transfer student’ Kim Sang-soo (33) led the bottom batting line. Kim Sang-soo, who started as the 9th hitter and shortstop, threw a counter punch with a timely double with 2 RBIs that fell to the left of the left fielder from 1 out 1st and 3rd base at the end of the 1st inning. In the 4th inning, he led off and produced a hit, and in the 5th, he also scored an RBI on an infield grounder. 3 at-bats, 2 hits, 3 RBIs.
In an interview after the game, Kim Sang-soo said, “The team’s flow has not been good recently.” He tried to hit aggressively, but a good result came out,” he recalled the game.
What has changed the most after moving? Kim Sang-soo said, “My mindset has changed a lot.” He said, “I am a player who came to this team because KT wanted it. The coaching staff knows what they want from me, so he goes into every game with the feeling that he has to live up to their expectations.”
During the Samsung days, he was the highest level in the team, but now he has to act as a bridge between seniors such as Park Kyung-soo, Park Byung-ho, Hwang Jae-gyun, and Shin Bong-ki and younger players. Kim Sang-soo said, “In the past (Samsung), I was in a position to talk a lot, but here I listen to the older brothers and give advice to my younger siblings.” He said, “KT seems to have a good harmony between senior players and young players. The hyungs lead me well, and the younger ones follow me well,” he said, conveying the team atmosphere.
Kim Sang-soo, who joined Samsung as the first nomination in 2009, has been a franchise star who has been active only in Samsung, but last winter he wore a KT uniform as a free agent (FA) for a total of 2.9 billion won over four years. His batting average fell to 0.240 right after the opening, but he raised his batting average to 0.282 in the recent season. With a stable appearance in defense, KT is maintaining a spot in the infield.
Kim Sang-soo said,먹튀검증 “I am somewhat satisfied with the batting pace at the beginning of the season compared to last year or the year before last.” He said, “I wanted to erase the evaluation of the aging curve (decline in skills with age) while transferring,” he said. “I want to show that I am still a sufficiently competitive infielder. I’m still too young to say ‘it’s over’,” he said, promising to do better.