*This content was translated by AI.
Kim Do-young (23, KIA Tigers), the "treasure of Korean baseball," was also calm about the shocking salary cut. He admitted it coolly like a big belly and vowed to make another leap forward this season.
On the 23rd, the KIA Tigers team left for Amami-Oshima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, the venue of the spring camp, via Gimpo International Airport. They will pass through Tokyo, stay for a day, and then enter Amami-Oshima on the 24th. Prior to this, on the previous day (22nd), four foreign players, including coach Lee Bum-ho and the coaching staff, James Nail, Adam Oler, Harold Castro and Gerid Dale (Asia Quarter), headed to Amami-Oshima first.
On this day, many fans flocked to Gimpo Airport to see KIA players. Among them, Kim Do-young was the most popular.
When asked about the salary contract this season in an interview with reporters, Kim Do-young calmly admitted, "It's right that I didn't play the game last year, so I think it was something I should admit as a player."
"But other people are more interested in annual salary than me," he said, laughing, and added, "So that part was very interesting. I want to do well this year and get compensated again," he said proudly like a big belly.
Kim Do-young was exactly halved from his annual salary of 500 million won in 2025. Half of them were cut, and they stamped their annual salary contract for 250 million won this year.
In addition, Kim Do-young said about stealing, "To be honest, I don't think there will be an autograph. So, I don't think I'm breaking that part of course, so once I get a signature, I think I'll do my best to look at the game situation."
Kim Do-young is likely to play as the main third baseman of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) national team. He said, "I think it's weird not to go to the WBC and run like crazy X. "I think that's not the case if I don't run around as a national team member, so I think I should play as smartly as possible according to the situation," he said.
The hamstring injury that plagued him last season. What kind of countermeasures did they come up with. "I think I've made some training routines for that. While rehabilitating this time, I learned a lot of rehabilitation methods that fit me. I learned a lot about training to avoid fatigue in my hamstring as much as possible and how to recover from it. I think that's the biggest benefit," he said, renewing his determination.
Meanwhile, Kim Do-young played in 141 games in the 2024 season and posted a batting average of 0.347 (189 hits in 544 at-bats), 38 homers, 109 RBIs, 143 runs and 40 steals (4 failed), and an on-base percentage of 0.647 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) of 1.067. His strong performance during the regular season led to the Korean Series. In the Korean Series, Kim Do-young also enjoyed the joy of winning the championship by batting .235 (4 hits in 17 at-bats) with five RBIs, one stolen base and five walks, including one home run. He then participated in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12 tournament and flew around wearing the national flag. After the season, Kim Do-young swept various trophies, including KBO MVP and third baseman Golden Glove.
But the 2025 season was a nightmare itself. He injured his hamstring three times in total. He was first diagnosed with a partial left hamstring injury in the opening game against the NC Dinos on March 22. He then returned on April 25, about a month later, but collapsed again on May 27 due to a right hamstring injury. After suffering two hamstring injuries, he returned to action on August 5. However, he ended the season with another left hamstring injury against the Sajik Lotte Giants on August 7.
Kim Do-young's 2025 season performance is 0.309 (34 hits in 110 at-bats) with seven home runs in 30 games, nine doubles, 27 RBIs, 20 runs, 3 steals (failed 0), 10 walks with 23 strikeouts, 0.582 on-base percentage, 0.361 on-base percentage, 0.943 on-base percentage and 0.294 on-base percentage.
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*This content was translated by AI.
