'I Can't See Competitors' Kim Do-young-Kim Taek-yeon, MVP-Could the dream of a rookie award be unanimous

Sep 26, 2024

Sportschosun DB

Kim Do-young and Kim Taek-yeon, can you make a unanimous challenge of your dreams.

The 2024 KBO League regular season is running toward its end. With all teams playing more than 140 games, only the final autumn baseball team competition remains.

After the regular season, attention will be paid to voting for MVP and Rookie of the Year. It is the highest honor that players who have performed best in the regular season can enjoy.

First of all, voting for MVP and Rookie of the Year this season is not expected to be as fierce as this fight for fourth and fifth place. This is because the candidates of 'Gye Ilhak' stand out.

First of all, KIA Tigers' Kim Do-young is the most likely MVP. It's literally 'Kim Do-young syndrome'. Amid Kim Do-young's performance, KIA confirmed its regular season victory. He even became the youngest player to score 30 home runs, 30 steals, 100 RBIs and 100 runs at the 30-homer club. Now, the second 40 home runs and 40 steals are on the verge of conquering the highlands. Being a star player of Kia, a popular national team, also has a great influence on 'madness'.

Samsung-KIA match held at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on the 23rd. Leading hitter Kim Do-young cheers after hitting his 38th home run of the season in the bottom of the first inning. Gwangju = Reporter Jeong Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2024.9.23/

Some point out that Kim Do-young did well, but coolly, he may not be an overwhelming MVP in terms of his personal performance. Currently, Kim Do-young ranks first only in scoring and slugging percentage in eight award categories for batters. There are no titles that are considered the most important, such as batting average, home run, and RBI. MVP as well as team performance is important, but it is true that individual performance is the first factor in the evaluation.

But luck comes with it. There is no particular competitor. There is no multi-crowd king who can threaten Kim Do-young. If NC Dinos pitcher Hart had won four pitchers, he might not have known, but he lost a lot due to the loss of six runs against SSG Landers on the 25th. If he tries to win four gold medals, he may fall to no one.

Rather, although there is no title, Kim Do-young's performance, who ranked third in the batting average, second in home runs, third in hits, and second in on-base percentage, can be evaluated higher. Samsung Lions captain Koo Ja-wook is also mentioned as a candidate, and Koo Ja-wook does not have the No. 1 title compared to Kim Do-young and did well evenly, but he is one or two spots behind Kim Do-young. The team is also in second place.

It is safe to say that Kim Taek-yeon is almost definitive in the rookie award. Kim Taek-yeon made 18 saves with an overwhelming pitch after transforming into a late finish in the middle of this season. He has already broken the record for the most saves for high school graduates. If Doosan makes saves in both of its remaining two games, KIA Jung Hae-young's record of 20 saves can also be broken.

A game between SSG and Doosan at Jamsil Baseball Stadium on the 23rd, Doosan's Kim Taek-yeon is pitching hard. Jamsil = Reporter Heo Sang-wook wook@sportschosun.com /2024.09.23/

Kim Taek-yeon also doesn't have much of a competitor. It's about Cho Byung-hyun of SSG Landers and Hwang Young-mook of Hanwha Eagles, but it's not easy to beat Kim Taek-yeon.

So the possibility of unanimity is also mentioned. There was only one unanimous case in the voting for MVP and Rookie of the Year. In 1982, Park Chul-soon of the OB Bears was the unanimous MVP. The Rookie of the Year award went to Hyundai Unicorns in 1996 when Park Jae-hong joined the rookie 30-30 club.

In 2022, Kiwoom Heroes' Lee Jung-hoo swept 104 out of 107 votes, unfortunately failing to reach a unanimous agreement. At that time, two out of three votes went to Lotte Giants Lee Dae-ho and one to Kiwoom Ahn Woo-jin.

Lotte-KIA match held at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on the 25th. Reyes smiles after hitting a double with one out in the top of the seventh inning. Gwangju = Reporter Jeong Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2024.9.25/

There are variables in the unanimous challenge of this vote. First, Kim Do-young should pay attention to Lotte's foreign hitter Reyes. If Reyes breaks the 201-hit record set by Seo Geon-chang (current KIA) during the Nexen Heroes, he can take quite a few votes. Reyes increased the number of hits against KIA to 196 on the 25th. In the case of Kim Taek-yeon, Cho Byung-hyun can be affected if he dramatically advances his team to fall baseball. Cho Byung-hyun finished late like Kim Taek-yeon, but he is short of 10 saves, but he cannot ignore his previous record of 12 holds and four wins.

A game between LG and SSG at Jamsil Stadium on the 5th. Cho Byung-hyun of SSG is pitching. Jamsil = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2024.09.05/

The last variable is a change in the voting system. Until now, the press corps vote has been strictly confidential. However, the Korea Baseball Press Association changed internal regulations after voting for member companies ahead of the MVP and Rookie of the Year voting. In order to prevent mischievous voting from becoming a resignation, a real-name vote was decided. However, the contents of the vote will not be disclosed to the outside, but will be disclosed to member companies and local reporters who have the right to vote. People who voted for which reporter voted for which player. You can expect the effect of voting outside of common sense disappearing.

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