Buck: Kang Was Slow in Spring Training Too

[CaptainRedbeard]

I saw this in Roch's latest blog from Showalter:

"I was talking to somebody with the Pirates about Jung Ho (Kang), how slow he started for them last spring. We need to keep it in mind. You think about all the adjustments he's going through."

I got curious, so I looked it up.

Kim's had 25 PA and is 0-24 with 0 BB's but only 3 K's.

In his first 26 PA in spring training last year, Kang went 3-23 with 3 BB's and 9 K's, good for a .130/.259/.304 line.

Kang finished spring training with a .200/.280/.444 line and then went on to slash .287/.355/.461 in the regular season.

It's a big jump from Korea's level of competition to the major leagues, and it sounds like some adjustment is to be expected. IMO, the fact that Kim has only struck out 3 times is a very good sign. He's a big man, he's putting the ball in play and reports have been that at least some of them are hit with authority.

The hits will come, I wouldn't give up on him just yet.

[JLee2027]

Yes the consistent contact is very encouraging. He's probably not caring about walks yet as well.

[TheBee]

Yes the consistent contact is very encouraging. He's probably not caring about walks yet as well.

I agree. I noticed that Kim and Rickard, both known for their eye and taking walks, have both had 24 abs and no walks this spring.

[MDtransplant757]

:cussing: I'VE BEEN SAYING THIS ALL SPRING TRAINING GOSH DARNIT!!!! Well, better to hop on the wagon now than later.

[CaptainRedbeard]

I agree. I noticed that Kim and Rickard, both known for their eye and taking walks, have both had 24 abs and no walks this spring.

That is interesting, definitely. Part of that is probably the effect of them wanting to impress the coaches, and walks don't feel as impressive. Another effect is that they are probably being challenged more regularly by major league pitchers than they have been before. You kind of need to show that you can hit the major league fastball before the scouting report changes.

I've watched a handful of Rickard and Kim at bats and their plate discipline looks pretty good to me. Not expanding the zone, taking close pitches, working counts. They're just getting their pitches to hit and swinging at them, Rickard with more luck than Kim so far.

[TheBee]

That is interesting, definitely. Part of that is probably the effect of them wanting to impress the coaches, and walks don't feel as impressive. Another effect is that they are probably being challenged more regularly by major league pitchers than they have been before. You kind of need to show that you can hit the major league fastball before the scouting report changes.

I've watched a handful of Rickard and Kim at bats and their plate discipline looks pretty good to me. Not expanding the zone, taking close pitches, working counts. They're just getting their pitches to hit and swinging at them, Rickard with more luck than Kim so far.

...and that is good for Rickard because some scouts predicted (as you noted) that mlb pitchers would come right after him and that he may not be able to get those hits. I hope he keeps proving them wrong.

[CaptainRedbeard]

...and that is good for Rickard because some scouts predicted (as you noted) that mlb pitchers would come right after him and that he may not be able to get those hits. I hope he keeps proving them wrong.

Yes indeed. The key is that Rickard will need to show enough power for pitchers to respect him in order to get walks. If all you can hit is singles, pitchers will just keep coming right at you, a la Juan Pierre or Ben Revere. The same will be true for Kim.

So far Rickard has two doubles, which is a nice sign. Of course when dealing with such small sample sizes, it is very hard to draw any significant meaning out of any of this. You can only look for what appear to be positive indicators or red flags.

[El Gordo]

With Kim it seems he lets the ball travel deep in the zone, which allows him to track it better, and hit the off speed stuff. In Korea the separation between off speed and FB probably wasn't as great as in the ML. My guess he is working to adjust his timing to the greater separation. Not an easy task.

[allsighs]

I have noticed watching his at-bats the last few games Kim seems more focused on trying to hit the ball the other way. With the early shifts on him, that makes total sense.

I'm willing to treat Kim's spring hitting no different than the first couple weeks a pitcher has trying to get his timing and mix in a pitch he is getting more familiar with.

Once April rolls around, I'll still have a long leash on the hits, but I wanna see some nice walks.

[CaptainRedbeard]

With Kim it seems he lets the ball travel deep in the zone, which allows him to track it better, and hit the off speed stuff. In Korea the separation between off speed and FB probably wasn't as great as in the ML. My guess he is working to adjust his timing to the greater separation. Not an easy task.

Yes, I think this is a great characterization of the adjustment. It's certainly difficult, but not insurmountable.

It's only a real problem if he doesn't have the bat speed to hit the major league fastballs and has to cheat by starting his swing earlier, costing him time for pitch ID and tracking. Given that he doesn't appear to have a long swing and isn't striking out by having fastballs blown past him, I think he's going to be ok.

[Rene88]

I saw this in Roch's latest blog from Showalter:

I got curious, so I looked it up.

Kim's had 25 PA and is 0-24 with 0 BB's but only 3 K's.

In his first 26 PA in spring training last year, Kang went 3-23 with 3 BB's and 9 K's, good for a .130/.259/.304 line.

Kang finished spring training with a .200/.280/.444 line and then went on to slash .287/.355/.461 in the regular season.

It's a big jump from Korea's level of competition to the major leagues, and it sounds like some adjustment is to be expected. IMO, the fact that Kim has only struck out 3 times is a very good sign. He's a big man, he's putting the ball in play and reports have been that at least some of them are hit with authority.

The hits will come, I wouldn't give up on him just yet.

Thanks for posting, definitely a reason for hope. Let's hope he figures it out too.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[scOtt]

I saw this in Roch's latest blog from Showalter:

I got curious, so I looked it up.

Kim's had 25 PA and is 0-24 with 0 BB's but only 3 K's.

In his first 26 PA in spring training last year, Kang went 3-23 with 3 BB's and 9 K's, good for a .130/.259/.304 line.

Kang finished spring training with a .200/.280/.444 line and then went on to slash .287/.355/.461 in the regular season.

It's a big jump from Korea's level of competition to the major leagues, and it sounds like some adjustment is to be expected. IMO, the fact that Kim has only struck out 3 times is a very good sign. He's a big man, he's putting the ball in play and reports have been that at least some of them are hit with authority.

The hits will come, I wouldn't give up on him just yet.

Just because I didn't know this... When CD got picked off 2nd to end the inning that was a PA for Kim. Then to lead off the next inning was another PA? 2 PA, 1 AB. Is that right?

[Number5]

Just because I didn't know this... When CD got picked off 2nd to end the inning that was a PA for Kim. Then to lead off the next inning was another PA? 2 PA, 1 AB. Is that right?

No. The other PA was a HBP.

[scOtt]

No. The other PA was a HBP.

:rofl: I forgot. But if he got a hit to leadoff it would be 2 PA and 1 AB?

[scOtt]

And still irl he got 2 PA and 0 AB.