Had a .544 batting average in high school baseball last year
Steadily rising since April 1st this year
and became the No. 1 seller of jerseys.
"I need to eat more and get my batting average up."
Kim Min-seok (Lotte) drives a 156-kilometer-per-hour fastball from Kiwoom starting pitcher Ahn Woo-jin for an RBI during a baseball game between the two teams at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Aug. 8. Kim Min-seok went 3-for-3 with a double and two walks on the day, 섯다 recording his first five hits in his debut.
'When the result is good, the process is recognized'
That's the motto that Lotte Giants rookie hitter Kim Min-seok, 19, has kept in mind since he was a student at Whimun High School. "People don't recognize the effort you put in if the results aren't good," he said at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul ahead of the game against Kiwoom on Aug. 8. When I was in high school, I still paid more attention to the process. But as a professional athlete, you get paid, so you have to produce results," he emphasized.
The results are good. Through eight days, Kim is batting .285 with two home runs and 29 RBIs in 86 games. His batting average and RBIs rank first and his home runs rank second among rookies with regular at-bats. As a result, Kim is among the favorites for the Rookie of the Year award, along with pitchers like Moon Dong-joo (20-Hanwha), Park Myung-geun (19-LG), Yoon Young-chul (19), and Choi Ji-min (20-over KIA). If Kim wins the rookie of the year award, Lotte will have a rookie champion for the first time in 31 years since Yeom Jong-seok (50-current Donghwa University of Science and Technology) in 1992.
Last year, Kim batted .544 (37 hits in 68 at-bats) and won the Lee Young-min batting award, which is given to the player with the highest batting average in high school baseball for the year. But in April of this year, his first month as a professional, he batted just .196. By the end of June, his season batting average was still at 0.254. Since July, he has been batting .358. "I didn't expect to adapt so quickly, and I think I was able to adapt a little faster because I kept playing," Kim reflects.
Kim Min-seok dances to "Solo" by "Black Pink's" Jenny during the KBO All-Star Game at Sajik Stadium in Busan on March 15. Kim won the "Best Performance Award" on the night.
When a rookie hitter is this good, it's no wonder Lotte fans love him so much. Since May, Kim has been the team's No. 1 jersey seller, 온라인섯다 and in the All-Star Fan Vote, he received 985,811 votes, making him the only rookie to be named to the "Best 12. Kim also won the "Best Performance Award" at the All-Star Game at Busan Sajik Stadium in Anbang, where he perfectly executed the dance of girl group BLACKPINK's Jenny.
Kim said, "I feel lucky to be at Lotte. I don't think I would have gotten this much attention if I went to another team," he said, adding, "After the All-Star Game, I received more calls than I have ever received in my life. If (the team) goes to 'fall baseball,' I think there will be more calls then. After all, everyone prepares from spring to go to fall baseball."
Kim Min-seok posted a monthly batting average of 0.379 in July, but Lotte finished last in the monthly winning percentage with a 5-12 record (0.294 winning percentage). The team's ranking also dropped from fourth to seventh. Now it's time to make the familiar "8chiol" (up and up from August) a reality for Lotte fans. "Baseball is a long-term race," said Kim Min-seok. My seniors always told me, 'Start over in the summer. I didn't really know what they meant because I hadn't experienced it, but now that August is here, I think August is the most important month."
Prior to this day, Kim had gone hitless in four consecutive games. It was only the second time he had gone this long without a hit since his professional debut, but he remained calm. "There are times when I feel like I don't have the same bat speed and I'm getting a lot of foul balls. Then I just eat more rice. I think it's a matter of stamina, not technique. I think I need to eat more today, too," he laughed. 고스톱 Kim finished the day with three hits and two walks, his first five-hit game since his debut.