Samsung Lions’ veteran catcher Kang Min-ho, 39, has won his first monthly MVP award. He was named the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League Monthly MVP for July, the league announced on July 9. Kang received 14 out of 25 votes (56.0%) from the journalists and 125,997 out of 514,874 votes (24.5%) from the fans, for a total score of 40.24 points. He edged out Kia’s Kim Do Young, who finished second with seven journalists’ votes, 242,659 fan votes, and a total of 37.56 points.
She hasn’t won the monthly MVP award since her debut in 2004. This is the first time in 20 years. He led the league in home runs with 11 in July, while also posting a 4-for-8 batting average (3rd), 26 RBI (1st), and 8-for-6 slugging percentage (1st). The catcher, who is at a tender age, has shown rejuvenated hitting.
In an interview before the Gwangju game against KIA on September 9, Kang Min-ho said, “I tried to go thin and long, but I shouldn’t have an impact. Do-young is chewing up the season. I got the team’s monthly MVP award. It felt good to be in competition with Do-young. I’m proud to compete with a younger guy,” he smiled.
After a slow start to the season, he’s showing signs of rejuvenation at the plate and catcher.
“I didn’t see anything different. I didn’t change my batting form. Nothing has changed. When I didn’t play much in May, I thought, ‘I’m going to get my chance. I thought, ‘I’ll prepare and do my best. ‘ I didn’t know if it was the right time or not, but it came out better than expected.”
As for why he hit so many home runs, he said, “I didn’t see many fly balls in the first half, and I was wondering why I kept hitting them naturally and not getting ground balls. I only had four home runs in the first half. In the second half, 메이저사이트 I started floating to the outfield, and I think it’s because I have the speed to hit the ball. When my brother Woo-hyung said, ‘When you get older, you get good for a while and then you get bad, but you’re good for a month,’ I replied, ‘I hit like this when I know what I’m doing. I hit it in a weird way,” he chuckled.
He has also rejuvenated his ability to catch stolen bases. He caught Park Hae-min twice in the game against LG last week, and Park laughed. “I’m preparing as best I can. As a catcher, if you don’t catch stolen bases, you have to be pushed to the designated hitter. I tried hard to play catch. I laughed when Hae-min made the second one, but he said, ‘I can’t run anymore,’ and then he ran, so I laughed. It’s a competitive position. I try to stay as far behind as possible,” he said.
The veteran catcher is also helping the younger pitchers and outfielders perform.
“Tae In-yi was sighing because he had a bad second half, and I said, ‘You’re doing great. He’s got 10 wins and a couple ERAs. If you expect too much, you’ll be disappointed. You have to take what you’re given. Connor tried to use his changeup a lot at the beginning of the season. He said, “Korean hitters are good against changeups, so let’s go with fastballs. Reyes has a good fastball. I wanted to be aggressive with it. His fastball is better than it was at the beginning of the season,” he bragged.
Kang Min-ho has already signed three free agent contracts. His contract ends next season when he turns 40. He is also eyeing his first four free agent contracts. “My contract is until next year. I think I should show more competitiveness and become a fourth free agent. It’s my greed, but I’m not the 40-year-old I used to be when I was younger. I’ll be a fourth-year free agent for the younger guys. I want to set a precedent so that younger players can come out,” he said.
There are also goals he wants to accomplish in his lifetime. He wants to play in the Korean Series and play 2500 games as a catcher. Despite being a national catcher, he has never played in the Korean Series. “Today, my wife sent me a monthly congratulatory message, so I have one KS left. I replied that I can’t wait to go to the Korean Series. During the season, I don’t look at my career record. I only think about today. But I still want to play 2,500 games as a catcher,” he said.