"Three hamstrings → 0 actual games after August" Kim Do-young is strong confidence "Trust in my body, I have it even if there are no others."

*This content was translated by AI.

Kim Do-young (23, KIA Tigers), who appeared in public for the first time in a long time since his injury, expressed strong confidence in his current physical condition.

Before leaving for Saipan for the first camp of the Korean national baseball team compared to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) at Incheon International Airport on the 9th, Kim Do-young said, "I think my current physical condition is 100%. I've been making it since August, so I'm going to play it thinking it's 100%," he said with strength.

It is the first official appearance in five months. 2025 was a year I wanted to forget for KBO MVP Kim Do-young, who led KIA to the Korean Series in 2024. He suffered a left hamstring injury from the opening game and returned to the first team in about a month. One month after returning, I hurt my hamstring again. This time, it was on the right. I was a little more cautious this time. I aimed for the second half and came back in early August. But bad luck didn't end there. I felt pain in my left hamstring three games after my return in August. In the end, the KIA club declared Kim Do-young out of the season.

In response, Kim Do-young said, "I had difficulty recovering my mental strength. I've forgotten all the routines so far. I don't have much time left, so I'm thinking of finding a routine based on what I've done in the past and playing baseball again. If you don't do well, it's the fate of a baseball player to do well again. I made my body with the intention of doing well."

He also boldly passed four warm-up matches for the national team in November last year. It was the judgment of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) Power Reinforcement Committee that it was right to join in January while fully recovered. Although injuries have plagued him all year, Kim Do-young marked a batting average of 0.309 (34 hits in 110 at-bats), seven home runs, 27 RBIs, 20 runs and three steals in 30 games last year, and an on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) of 0.943. If you're healthy, you've proven that you're still MVP-class.

Kim Do-young said, "I only did well this year (2024), but I think they thought it good. So I was grateful and I thought it was baseball players who answered those expectations, so I prepared harder," he said. "Not only the WBC, but all competitions with the name of the national team mean a lot to me. "I feel more responsible because I'm representing Korea, and I want to go out more because WBC is a big competition," he stressed.

For the returning MVP, the first thing to do is prove his physical strength and health to play full time, not his skills. I was worried a lot on my way to the national team. Kim Do-young said, "Director Lee Bum-ho told me to think a lot about my body first. Not only the director, but also the general manager and others said, "Come back healthy no matter what."

"Honestly, I had enough time to build my body. It was perfect. So no one else has faith in my body, but I do. I have a period until the WBC, so I do technical training in a warm place and try to build my body well in my own way," he said with strength.

He also did not hide his desire for stolen bases, which was mentioned as the reason for frequent injuries. Kim Do-young stole double digits every year since his debut in 2022, and made 40 steals in 2024, even though he was restrained by the team.

When asked by reporters about stealing, Kim Do-young said, "Actually, I think I'll be cautious in the beginning. He said, "I need time to adjust to the body as I go to the game," but added, "I don't think I can tell you that I'm going to reduce the steal." As I always did, I rehabilitated and built myself to steal. If I don't have a steal, I don't want to save myself because I think I'm nothing," he said.

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*This content was translated by AI.