On the 4th, Kim Do-young of the Kia Tigers and Kang Baek-ho of the KT Wiz joined the lead in home runs by launching their 11th home run of the season. As of the 5th, the number of players who recorded their 11th home run of the season increased to five, including Choi Jung, Han Yu-seom (SSG Landers), and Jonathan Peraza (Hanwha Eagles).
Thanks to Kim Do-young's explosive batting sense, the Kia Tigers are continuing their relentless lead. Kim Do-young hit 10 home runs in a month in April, becoming the first KBO league to achieve 10 home runs-10 steals per month. If the current pace continues, it can surpass 50 home runs and 50 steals for the first time in the KBO League. Amid Kim Do-young's performance, Kia has reached 20 wins in 27 games, achieving at least 20 wins in the club's games.
Hanwha's team batting average is 0.252, the lowest among the 10 teams, but foreign hitters' performance is different. Peraza, who completely quenched Hanwha's thirst for foreign hitters, fired a home run at every critical moment. On the 3rd, he hit his 11th solo home run of the season in the top of the seventh inning to lead his team to a 4-2 victory over Kia. It was a valuable home run that occurred while Hanwha's batting average was generally sluggish. Peraza heated up the league by hitting a batting average of 0.517 in March, but collapsed in mid-April by recording no hits in 18 at-bats. However, he has gradually recovered since the end of April and joined the competition to become the home run leader.
Choi Jeong-eun of SNSD is aiming to become the home run king again this season by banking on her diligence and consistency. Choi Jeong, who had 29 home runs last season, competed with Noh Si-hwan (Hanwha, 31) until the very end, and is now looking for 500 home runs in his career. The home run pace is not bad either. He hit his 10th home run of the season against the Lotte Giants on April 24, breaking Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop's homerun record (468) and hitting his 11th in four games. Thanks to Choi Jeong and Han Yu-seom, SBSG is ranking second (40) after Kia (41).
The competition for home runs by different teams is expected to be much fiercer compared to last season. Batters are rapidly adapting to the automatic pitching judgment system (ABS), which was introduced for the first time this year, and are elevating both batting average and home runs. Since the opening of the regular season on March 23, six of the 10 teams have hit more than 30 home runs through April 30. During the same number of games last year, none of the teams had more than 30 home runs.
BY: 스포츠토토
