Kiwoom Heroes All-Star third baseman Song Sung-mun has been swinging a scorching bat since becoming his team’s primary cleanup hitter on June 7. In 21 games since that point, Song has batted .452, along with a slugging percentage of .607. He has also been getting on base more than 50 percent of the time.
Song started this Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season batting in the bottom third of the Heroes’ lineup and moved all over the place. When some injuries created an opening, manager Hong Won-ki inserted Song into the cleanup spot, and the 27-year-old has rewarded his skipper’s faith with the best stretch of his nine-year career.
Managers may be tempted to give such a hot hitter more at-bats by moving him up to the leadoff or No. 2 spot, but Hong said Thursday he won’t mess with success.
“I think we’ve been producing pretty good offense with the lineup the way it is,” Hong told reporters before hosting the LG Twins at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul for the final game of the season’s first half. “I think we w
ill stick with this to start the second half. We’ve been scoring runs at a decent clip and I don’t think I need to tweak anything.”
The Heroes are riding a six-game winning streak, the longest active streak in the KBO. The run began on June 25, and the Heroes have scored more runs than any team in the league since then with 50.
For the season, Song is batting .354 with nine home runs and 57 RBIs. He has never batted above .300 in any full season, and his career highs in home runs and RBIs are 13 and 79, respectively.
Hong pointed to Song’s breakout campaign as one of the most encouraging developments so far this season, as the Heroes, despite their current winning streak, remain in last place at 35-45.
“We have such a young team, and I don’t think our rookies have shown what they’re capable of just yet,” Hong said. “But among those who’ve been around, Song Sung-mun has played a huge role in the middle of our lineup.”
As the first half of the season winds down, Hong said he has seen enough reasons to feel
optimistic about the rest of the campaign.
“Even though we have more losses than wins now, we’ve played a lot of close games,” the manager said. “And our young players have been able to grow by playing those tight games, and veterans have been sticking with it through ups and downs without losing their confidence. I think this gives us hope for the second half of the season.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency
