I don’t want Roger Bernardina until 2017.
KIA Socrates Brito hit the perfect nutritious score. At the bottom of the 6th inning against Kiwoom in Gwangju on the 17th, he pulled the cutter and fired a solo shot against Jang Jae-young, who was trailing 3-4, and pulled Kim Seong-jin’s slider with 1 out and 2nd base at the end of the 8th inning, where he was trailing 3-4, and pulled out a two-run four in the final rain.
It was Socrates’ fifth final stroke of the season. In KIA, he is tied for second place with Kim Sun-bin after Choi Hyung-woo with 10 points. However, it is not the highest among foreign hitters. The best foreign hitters this season, Guillermo Heredia (SSG) and Austin Dean (LG), are already leading the league with 11 final strokes.
You cannot evaluate everything about a foreign hitter by the final stroke. However, considering that a foreign hitter is a decisive blow, it is natural for KIA to want Socrates to show an appearance like the game on the 17th more often. Even last year, Socrates had 8 final strokes.
In the end, the players that KIA needs to solve are Na Seong-beom, Choi Hyung-woo, and Socrates. Kim Sun-bin has not joined yet, but it is ideal for Socrates to lead the batting line with Na Seong-beom or Choi Hyung-woo even if Kim returns. For your information, Na Seong-beom played 2 and a half months this season and already recorded 4 final strokes.
Socrates has a batting average of 0.289, 15 homers, 63 RBIs, 61 points, 9 steals, an OPS of 0.836 and a scoring average of 0.280 in 94 games this season. It’s definitely not bad, but it’s not an explosive stat either. His batting average of 0.311 in 127 games, 17 home runs, 77 RBIs, 83 runs, OPS of 0.848, and a batting average of 0.296 are slightly lower than last year.
Last summer, he suffered a facial fracture from a pitch by Kim Gwang-hyeon (SSG) and took a month off, but this year he is full-time. The cumulative stats are sure to be better than last year, but the percentage stats are the key. There is a clear weakness for left-handed pitchers (0.217 batting average). He fell further than last year when it was 0.230.
SBS Sports commentator Lee Soon-cheol, who relayed the match against Kiwoom on the 17th, pointed out that Socrates is weak against low pitches. It’s not that the ability to cope with lures is very good. Instead, the ball that came into the high course has excellent ability to connect to a good hit if the condition is good. Seongjin Kim’s slider was also high.
Many KIA fans looking at Socrates think of Roger Bernardina, who played in 2017 and 2018. In many ways, Socrates falls somewhat short of Bernardina. When Bernardina was playing, the ride-to-seriousness was amazing. It should be taken into account that he is a pitcher this year. But he’s definitely less sharp on defense and base running as well, apart from hitting. Socrates sometimes makes mistakes that he shouldn’t make in defense and running.스포츠토토
So, Socrates needs to recover more from the blow. For reference, Bernardina recorded a whopping 15 final strokes in 2017, which was second in the league. He left with 22 final strokes, including seven in 2018. Socrates has a total of 13 since last year.
Socrates’ overall performance this season ranks high among foreign hitters in the league. However, he is a foreign hitter who has definitely adapted to the league, so it is true that he has higher expectations. Choi Hyeong-woo and Na Seong-beom cannot always solve the problem. So, for KIA, the match on the 17th, where Socrates’ bat decided victory, is very meaningful.