‘Resignation idol’ Kim Min-seok (19, Lotte Giants) has been hitting well in the second half of the season. He has become a fan favorite with his ‘life story’.
As of Aug. 28, Kim has played in 77 games this season, hitting .279 with two home runs, 29 RBIs, 36 runs scored, 12 doubles, and an OPS of .702. He joined the Opening Day roster as a high school rookie and has remained on the roster for 119 days without an expungement.
As the season has progressed, Kim has become more and more acclimated to the professional game. After a slow start in April with a 0.196 average, he improved his batting average to 0.286 in May and 0.270 in June. This performance earned him a spot in the outfield for the Dream All-Stars at the 2023 KBO All-Star Game at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan, South Korea. With a total of 985,811 votes in fan voting, he became the fourth high school rookie to be named to the All-Star team, following KIA’s Ahn Chi-hong in 2009, Kiwoom’s Lee Jung-hoo in 2017, and LG’s Jung Woo-young in 2019.
After finishing the first half with a .260 batting average, Kim Min-seok has been on fire since the All-Star Game. He added a single in his first game on the 21st against Sajik Kiwoom, and then went on a six-game hitting streak until the 27th against Jamsil Doosan. As of the 28th, Kim is batting .440 (11-for-25) in the second half of the season, which is more than five percent higher than his batting average (.550) if you exclude his 0-for-5 performance against the KIA in Gwangju on the 28th.
Lotte manager Larry Sutton (53) said of Kim’s second-half performance, “The biggest reason is experience. In the first half, he saw a lot of how the other team’s pitchers attacked. He was able to handle the pitches with experience.” “He’s doing well because he has the ability to adjust himself between batting and batting and pitching and pitching,” Sutton said, adding, “It’s a sign of maturity that he can think at such a young age.”
Kim Min-seok himself, however, remains modest. Speaking to Star News ahead of the game on the 28th, Kim smiled sheepishly, saying, “I’m still a long way from hitting,” when asked about his recent stellar performance.
In the midst of his stellar performance, Kim has been making fans smile lately. On April 27 against Doosan in Jamsil, Kim batted ninth and started in center field, going 2-for-3 with two doubles, two RBIs, and one run scored. In particular, with runners on first and second in the top of the sixth inning, when his team led 6-1, Kim took advantage of a changeup from Doosan pitcher Lee Young-ha and lined a single to left-center field.
As the ball rolled close to the fence, Yoo Kang-nam, the slowest runner on the basepaths, made it to first base, and Kim Min-seok wasted no time in trying to steal third base. However, Kim was ruled out at third base on a relay play between center fielder Jung Soo-bin, shortstop Kim Jae-ho, and third baseman Heo Kyung-min. At this point, Kim Min-seok was seen lying down on the third base and looking at the replay camera with a wistful expression. It was said that it looked like the pose of an idol group member.토스카지노
Kim Min-seok, who was unaware that the scene had become so popular, said, “I wasn’t looking at the camera, I was looking at the bench. I was asking the coach to read the video,” he explained. At the time, third base coach Jeon Jun-ho asked, “Should we ask for a video replay?” and Kim Min-seok agreed, so the Lotte bench requested a video replay. However, it didn’t change the outcome and he was still ruled out.
“I should have left one arm out when I got to third base,” Kim said, “but I learned a lesson from that play.” “I learned a lesson from that play,” he added.