Hyun Soo Kim talks about his improvement at the plate

Hyun Soo Kim, the first Korean-born player in Orioles history, is now batting .600 at 9-for-15 on the season. He has made four starts and gotten multiple hits in three of those games.

A spring training that ended with the Orioles asking him to accept an assignment to the minors suddenly seems a long time ago. Not only did Kim go 3-for-4 last night, but he smoked a double to right field in the third inning. It was his first major league extra-base hit.

Kim today explained the difference between his poor spring and how he is swinging and doing now.

"Back when I was in Korea, I was able to hit the balls hard and I was swinging hard in order to hit the balls forward," he said through interpreter Danny Lee. "But during the spring training, there was some pressure to make results, so I was just trying to make contact with pitches. Now I have gone back to how it was before and I am trying to make the harder hits, so I am swinging harder.

"I am trying my best to get back to how I played in Korea. Not too much difficulty playing just once in a while. Happy to be part of the team and contributing more than I was before."

When he is not in the lineup, Kim said he is trying to do all he can pregame to keep himself ready

"I am trying to get used to the fastballs that I am not able to see in the games," he said. "So I've been working in the cage with the (pitching) machines to get ready for the games."

After batting .178 in spring batting with no extra-base hits and two RBIs in 45 at-bats, Kim now amazingly has seven hits over his last 10 at-bats.

He was asked today if it has been tougher getting used to the velocity of big league pitchers or his not having faced these pitchers before.

"My old friend (Jung Ho) Kang from the Pirates gave me a lot of advice in that you have to see more fastballs to get used to the velocity of the pitchers here," he said. "The unfamiliarity with the pitchers is the same thing for the pitchers. They haven't seen me either. It is the same deal with pitchers and me."