"I thought I would be more than Kim Do-young by May...."
Kang Seung-ho (30, Doosan Bears) ranked No. 1 in non-FA fielders for the Doosan Bears over the past two years.
He had a batting average of 264, 10 homers and 62 RBIs in 2022, and posted a batting average of 265, seven homers and 59 RBIs in 2023. He has added 13 steals for the second consecutive year.
He posted career highs this season, securing No. 1 spot in fieldwork. He played in 140 games and posted a batting average of 280 with 18 homers and 16 steals, or OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) of 0.804.
He got off to a good start. He hit .438 in eight games he played in March and maintained his batting average around .300 through May. He even hit double-digit homers early on. "I spent my career high season," Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop praised Kang Seung-ho, saying, "He showed remarkable batting performance that made me think he would become an excellent player if I saw his performance through May."
Kang Seung-ho and the head coach both had a good start in the second half of the season. They had a good start in the early stages, but only posted a batting average of 269 and five home runs in 53 games in the second half. The stolen bases also dropped from 12 in the first half to four in the second half. "Compared to what we did in the early and mid-season, the last finish was not that good," coach Lee said. "After the season, we had a long period of sluggishness as we passed June." Kang Seung-ho also said, "I had something physically to do during the season."
Kang Seung-ho returned the break and participated in the closing camp in Icheon. Most of them were low-year players who did not play much in the first team this year, but Kang Seung-ho is sweating in them.
Coach Lee said, "I thought we need to make changes to reduce sluggish time and maintain a good batting sense. I talked about that with (Kang) Seung-ho, and he showed a lot of willingness to improve the problem himself," adding, "Seung-ho is also practicing as a group, but he is practicing a lot that he needs."
"Rather than just resting, I came to attend the closing camp to check what I lacked in this season while training and to figure out the direction of what to do next season," Kang said. "When I was getting hit well early in the season, my hitting point came forward, but when I lost strength, I came back. Why did I get late and try to judge the ball quickly, but the number of strikeouts increased. Technically, I also changed my posture a lot. I think the beginning (of poor performance) was physical strength. Even though my posture changed without realizing it and the weather got warmer and cooler, I kept showing myself when I was in a bad mood."
I finished the season with good performance, but I'm going to make changes. Kang said, "From a broader perspective, I'm going to change my batting posture. If I've done it with toe-taps, I'm going to do it a little bit. It's not decided yet, but I'm thinking about doing it that way." 토토사이트
Spending time with younger teammates Kang has strengthened his commitment. "I'm working hard, but I think I have to do more," Kang said. "Seeing younger players makes me think that I should work harder. I'm worried if I can do well early this season and do well early next year, but if I prepare well, I think I'll get good results."