LG Twins “team pillar” Kim Hyun-soo (35) will not play in the midweek three-game series against the Kiwoom Heroes. He was also benched for Game 1 on June 6, which LG won 9-1. It’s a managerial decision.
Kim Hyun-soo, one of the most dominant hitting machines in KBO history, is in an unprecedented slump. He batted just .148 in the month of May, and in the 10 games he played from May 25 through last week, he batted .079. Kim Hyun-soo’s inability to get on base has left him without a hit, and manager Yoon Kyung-yeop decided to give him time to regain his form.
Before the game against Kiwoom on the 6th, Yeom said, “I’m going to give him about 4-5 days to prepare. It would be putting too much pressure on him to pinch-hit. One or two at-bats won’t make him better.” “It’s about giving the team time to get on a better path,” Yeom said.
Before the managerial briefing, Yeom and Kim chatted for a while in the corner of the dugout. Yeom even went through some swinging motions himself. When asked what they talked about, Yeom said, “Both batting and pitching get harder as you dig deeper. Eventually, you make a decision to change your batting stance. The worse it is, the simpler it should be.”
As a manager, Yeom also had a lot to worry about. No matter how bad Kim Hyun-soo is, if he’s in the lineup, he can put pressure on the opposing battery. He is also an iconic hitter.
Above all, he had to protect the player’s pride. If Kim Hyun-soo, the best hitter in the league and the best hitter of all time, doesn’t accept the manager’s decision, trust can be shaken.
“If I had rested him 15 to 20 games ago, he could have maintained his 2.9 to 3.0 batting average. “But it would have been difficult for the player to understand,” he says, adding, “From the player’s point of view, all he can think about is, ‘I want to play, but if you give me a break, you’re taking me out of the game. It can create a rift between the (coaching) staff and the player.” The decision to take a longer-than-expected break was made only recently.메이저놀이터
“This experience will have an impact on (Kim) Hyun-soo’s future leadership,” said Yeom Kyung-yeop, adding, “He will return as a pillar hitter for our team.”
In the first game of the Kiwoom on June 6, which was played without Kim Hyun-soo, LG’s offense came alive with four hits from Austin and four RBIs from Oh Ji-hwan. Kim Hyun-soo was able to focus on getting his batting touch back.