On June 9, the KBO’s Power Enhancement Committee announced the final roster for the baseball team for the Hangzhou Asian Games, which begin this September. At the time, KIA infielder Kim Do-young (20) was rehabbing from an ankle injury suffered earlier in the season and hadn’t played in the Futures League.
At the time, there were voices among the national team selection officials who said, “I still want to pick him,” despite the fact that he had only played two games for the first team since the start of the season. This was because those who had played professional baseball had a gut feeling that Kim was the real deal. Among former players, the evaluation of Kim Do-young is more than just ‘stats’.
Kim made her first appearance on June 20 against Lotte in the Futures League. He was immediately promoted to the first team after recording 10 hits, six doubles, and two home runs in three games in the Futures League, with no secondary qualifiers such as adjusting to the game. As of Thursday, Kim is batting .324 (136-for-44) with two home runs and 16 RBIs for an OPS of .842 in 33 games with the first team.
What’s being felt on the outside is being felt on the inside. Such is the air among the so-called national team selection officials.
Due to the request from the Korean Sports Federation for “diligent” final roster submissions, the KBO was unable to significantly delay the timing of the roster announcement. However, there was also a view among national team selection officials that players could be selected as long as they returned to practice. NC’s Kim Hyung-jun, who was selected as the starting catcher for the national team but was unable to play due to injury, was also not called up to the national team based on his performance in the first team this season. As a result, in terms of national team selection, Kim was a week or two off.
In fact, the 10 KBO clubs put a lot of emphasis on “fairness” in the selection process. For the first time since the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games, when professional players began participating in the Games, the leagues agreed to limit the number of players per club to three to minimize attrition, and to limit the number of wild cards (three players) to 29 or younger for this year’s preliminary roster. While the intention was to use the Asian Games as a stage for generational change in the national team, the veteran free agents that clubs have spent a lot of money on were excluded in advance to reduce the ‘frustration’ that may arise in the last-minute ranking battle.
Fair enough. But the “rules” designed to level the playing field between clubs don’t reach individual players. Rather, they can be “unfair” in terms of their own opportunities. 메이저사이트
It’s not like there aren’t any “cases” where Kim could dramatically break into the national team. The national team already had the ‘variable’ of Lee Jung-hoo’s injury withdrawal, albeit in a different position. There may be other similar variables. However, KIA has already filled the club’s roster with Lee Yi-ri, Choi Ji-min, and Choi Won-jun.
Kim Do-young continues to stand out because of his versatility with the ball, defense, and running. There are only 24 players on the roster for the Asian Games. There are only 12 outfielders, including catchers. Even if you’re not in the starting lineup, the value of a player who can pinch-hit, pinch-run, and pinch-defend will only increase. That’s why we can’t stop thinking about Kim Do-young.