Outfielder Ahn Hyun-min adjusts approach at plate as KT Wiz remains No. 1 in KBO

KT Wiz outfielder Ahn Hyun-min built his game on a rare gift: knowing exactly which pitches to swing at. This season, however, his ability has worked against him. 

Since returning from an injury, Ahn has struggled to adapt to the automated ball-strike (ABS) system. He’s now adjusting his approach to the plate to regain the form that earned him the KBO’s Rookie of the Year award last season.

Throughout his career, Ahn has established himself as a hitter with two major strengths: power and an ability to predict whether a pitch will be inside or outside the strike zone.

Ahn gained the first during his military service. His intensive daily strength training there has led him to produce batted-ball speeds exceeding 170 kilometers per hour (105.6 miles per hour).

And he’s been adept at deciding which pitches to swing at and which to let pass since his days at Masan High School. That skill helped him post a .448 on-base percentage last season, the highest in the KBO.

An unexpected injury, however, disrupted his season this year. Ahn injured his hamstring while running the bases in April and was sidelined for more than two months. After returning in June, he struggled during his next 31 games, batting .245 with three home runs.

Pressure to perform well after the lengthy absence added to the difficulties that Ahn was already experiencing with the ABS, which was introduced to the KBO last season.

The system determines a strike based on whether a pitch passes through designated points of a virtual strike zone in front of and behind the batter. As a result, pitches once considered balls — sharply breaking pitches with significant downward movement, some of which are caught by the catcher close to the ground — are now strikes.

As a result, Ahn’s ability, normally one of his greatest strengths, began to work against him.

Under pressure to perform well after his return, he became overly focused on avoiding pitches that he believed he shouldn’t swing at. This left him vulnerable to pitches near the bottom of the ABS strike zone, and opposing pitchers repeatedly targeted that area with breaking balls that dropped sharply.

Ahn ultimately found that he needed to change his approach at the plate.

“I used to think that I should always lay off ‘bad pitches,’ but that makes it difficult to deal with borderline pitches,” he said. “There’s a difference between simply holding back the bat and beginning a swing before holding it back. I’m starting to think more and more that, in the end, a hitter has to swing and produce results.”

Baseball commentator Park Jae-hong also pointed out an adjustment that Ahn could make to his batting mechanics.

“Ahn uses a pronounced leg kick, which helps him generate power but makes it more difficult to hit pitches that drop,” Park said, referring to the motion in which a batter lifts his front leg before swinging. “Against pitchers who consistently attack the lower part of the strike zone, he needs to reduce the leg kick somewhat and adjust by getting his swing started.”

KT, meanwhile, maintained sole possession of first place in the league on Wednesday, with a 5-4 home victory over the Doosan Bears.

Trailing 4-3 with one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning, Kim Hyun-soo hit a two-run walk-off single to right field off Doosan closer Lee Young-ha.

The victory kept KT half a game ahead of the second-place Samsung Lions, which beat the Kiwoom Heroes 12-2 at Gocheok Sky Dome in Guro District, western Seoul, earlier on Wednesday.

Samsung’s Choi Hyoung-woo hit a grand slam to center field in the first inning at 42 years, eight months and 10 days old, becoming the oldest player in KBO history to hit a grand slam. Félix José of the Lotte Giants set the previous record in 2006, when he was 41 years, three months and 29 days old.

Elsewhere on Wednesday, the Kia Tigers beat the Lotte Giants 16-11 in Gwangju; the LG Twins shut out the NC Dinos 8-0 in Jamsil, southern Seoul; and the SSG Landers defeated the Hanwha Eagles 6-1 in Incheon.

The five games brought total KBO attendance this season to 10,024,140, marking the third consecutive year that the league has drawn more than 10 million fans.

BY KO BONG-JUN [[email protected]]