“It’s comforting.”
The KIA batting lineup is completely different now than it was about a month ago. Starting with the mid-June transfer of Choi Won-jun, Na Sung-beom and Kim Do-young arrived simultaneously in late June, followed by Kim Tae-gun and Kim Sun-bin in the first week of July. The opposite of Kim Tae-gun was Ryu Ji-hyuk, who moved to Samsung. In addition, Byun Woo-hyuk and Hwang Dae-in left the team due to injuries.
Still, Choi Won-jun, Kim Do-young, Na Sung-beom, Choi Hyung-woo, Lee Woo-seong, Socrates Brito, Kim Sun-bin, Kim Tae-gun, and Park Chan-ho are the best batting order KIA can field this season. They will have to rely on this batting order for the last three games of the first half against Samsung, as well as the second half.
The bottom of the order has been weak. The catcher was rested, and Kim Sun-bin was out with a fractured thumb. Park Chan-ho formed a triple-setter with Choi Won-joon and Kim Do-young in the No. 9 spot, but his batting was up and down.
With the addition of Kim Tae-gun, who has a decent bat, and the return of Kim Sun-bin, the KIA batting lineup became a minefield of batters from the table setter to the center to the bottom of the order. It can’t be ignored that the team is on an upward trajectory as it enters a nine-game series in the Seoul Metropolitan Area after breaking out of a collective slump in late June.
But basically, the lineup itself has the power. The scoring routes have been diversified. First of all, the triple setter can set the table. Kim Do-young is in the No. 2 spot instead of the No. 1 spot because of her long-range hitting and clutch ability. She can bring home Park Chan-ho and Choi Won-joon, and when things don’t go her way, she’s a great synergy with the center field lineup. He can get himself into scoring position with a single, which puts a lot of pressure on the opposing battery.
Add to that the fact that the bottom of the order is also hitting long balls, and the chances of a big inning increase. Kim Sun-bin and Kim Tae-gun have a lot of momentum. Kim should be in the top of the order, but he doesn’t have a spot right now. This means that the KIA batting lineup is stronger. This has been evident during their recent four-game winning streak.
That’s probably the biggest advantage. It’s a lineup that doesn’t seem to mind if one or two players struggle. Hitters go through cycles, no matter how big the name. It’s basically a lineup of average and impact, so they can pick up the slack.온라인바카
Na went hitless in five at-bats against KT on the seventh, but on the eighth, he exploded for three hits, including a back-to-back home run. He said, “I feel good about our bats right now. Actually, I didn’t have a good game yesterday, but I was fine today. It’s true that the center fielders have to do the basics. But you never know if you’re going to be able to do it every game. That’s how hard baseball is. If I’m not good enough, my teammates can pick up the slack, and if they’re not good enough, I can pick up the slack.”
This is a lineup that shows the potential for a virtuous cycle. Ultimately, if you add Hwang Dae-in or Byun Woo-hyuk to the first team for recovery and rotate back and forth between starters and backups, you can build a healthier lineup. This team was 9th, then 8th, then 7th. They could go back down to 8-9, but they could also go up to 5-6. Basically, the bullpen depth is good, so a late-season comeback is not out of the question, as long as the new foreign pitchers prove themselves. Overall, KIA is not a 7th-9th place team.