Professional baseball KT Wiz Kim Hyun-soo showed peak hitting form at spring camp, extending a streak of hits in five consecutive plate appearances. Will he regain his prime "hitting machine" form in a KT uniform?
Kim Hyun-soo started as the No. 2 designated hitter in a practice game against Hanwha Eagles at Kushigawa Stadium in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, on the 2nd. He played first base in the previous day's game against the LG Twins, and that day served as designated hitter. He erupted for three hits in three at-bats.
After one out in the first inning, Kim Hyun-soo reached with a left-field single off Hanwha starting pitcher Eom Sang-baek. While on first base he was picked off. At the moment the following batter, Hilliard, struck out on a full count, Kim Hyun-soo took one or two steps toward second base and then returned toward home. Perhaps he thought it was a walk. However, the strikeout call came, and catcher Jang Gyu-hyun quickly threw to first base and tagged him out.
Kim Hyun-soo hit a run-scoring single to right field with one out and a runner on first in the third inning while trailing 1-2, creating a chance at first and second. Hilliard's fly out to the outfield produced two outs with runners on first and third. With Jang Seong-woo at the plate, the KT bench ran a double steal play.
Kim Hyun-soo drew the catcher's attention as he ran from first to second, and the catcher threw short toward second base but the ball took one bounce and got away. The runner on third scored easily. By firmly drawing the catcher's gaze, the inexperienced Hanwha catcher did not notice the runner stealing home at all. The game was tied 2-2.
Kim Hyun-soo led off the sixth inning and hit a line-drive single to center off Lee Min-woo to complete his third hit. He was replaced at first base by pinch-runner Moon Sang-chul.
In the practice game against LG the previous day, Kim Hyun-soo grounded out to the pitcher in his first plate appearance in the first inning, but he hit consecutive hits in the fourth and fifth innings.
He reached as the leadoff batter in the fourth with a left-field single, advanced to second on the catcher's passed ball, moved to third on Jang Seong-woo's single to center, and scored on Heo Kyung-min's sacrifice fly to right field.
After one out in the fifth with the score tied 4-4, Kim Hyun-soo hit a left-field double down the line to create a scoring chance. He was replaced at second base by pinch-runner Yoo Jun-gyu. Afterwards, Hilliard delivered an RBI single that allowed the pinch-runner to score, giving them a 5-4 lead. Kim Hyun-soo went 2 for 3 in the game against LG, and he followed with three hits in the Hanwha game on the 2nd to extend his streak to five consecutive plate appearances with a hit.
Last year with LG, Kim Hyun-soo rebounded from two years of poor performance, appearing in 140 games with a .298 batting average, 12 home runs, 90 RBIs and an OPS of .806. He contributed to the combined championship and starred in the Korean Series, hitting .529 (9 for 17) with one home run, eight RBIs and an OPS of 1.342 in five games to earn series MVP honors.
After the season ended, instead of exercising a two-year, 2.5 billion won option, Kim Hyun-soo regained free agent status and moved to KT on a three-year, 5 billion won free agent contract. KT manager Lee Kang-chul welcomed the move, saying Kim Hyun-soo takes good care of younger players and was a good signing.
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