“May MVP Park Dong-won is getting better at baseball… My heart’s MVP is Im Chan-kyu,” says LG coach Yeom Kyung-yup
“(Park) Dong-ui is getting better at baseball”
Gocheok Sky Dome on May 8, the site of the 2023 KBO League matchup between the KBO’s Kiwoom and LG. On the same day, the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) announced that LG’s catcher Park Dong-won was named the MVP for the month of May. Park received 16 out of a total of 29 votes (55.2%) from journalists and 178,638 votes (41.4%) out of 431,790 votes from fans, for a total of 48.27 points, earning him the honor of being named the monthly MVP for the first time in his career.
When LG coach Yeom Kyung-rok met with Park Dong-won before the game and asked him to evaluate his performance in May, he gave him short and sweet praise, saying, “He was great.” He continued, “(Park) Dong-won’s baseball is improving. His defense at catcher is at a level where I don’t have to worry about it at all, but I was disappointed that his batting potential didn’t explode. He changed his thinking about baseball and trained on the basics, and I think the results were good. I’m training more because I’m getting good results,” he praised.
Park Dong-won, a long-hitting catcher who hit 22 home runs for Kiwoom in 2021, has improved this year. In May alone, he batted .333 (75-for-25) with nine home runs, 25 RBIs, and a .787 OPS, topping the league in both categories. For the season as a whole, he’s batting .302 with 14 home runs, 42 RBIs, and a .994 OPS. He leads the league in home runs, RBIs, and OPS.
The one variable for Park, who is on pace to win the home run title, is his stamina. Playing catcher is very demanding, which puts him at a disadvantage compared to other players. Coach Yeom said, “(Park) Dong-won is not a weak player. Of course, physical fitness management is important,” he said, adding, “His defense has always been outstanding, so if he finishes this season like this, he can become the KBO’s representative catcher after Yang Ji.”안전놀이터
Yoon also mentioned Im Chan-kyu, who finished second in May’s monthly MVP voting behind Park Dong-won. After starting the season in the bullpen, Im has been pitching exceptionally well since mid-April. In his four starts in May, he earned all four wins and posted a 1.13 ERA in 24 innings pitched. He led the league in both wins and ERA. These performances earned him a total of 15.32 points in the May MVP voting. “Since Park Dong-won won the monthly MVP, the MVP in my heart is Im Chan-kyu,” Yeom said, causing laughter in the dugout.
