I'm so proud of a player who's missing a game! KIA's must-win team returned. "Players helped with rehabilitation."" [Okinawa Station]

*This content was translated by AI.

Sometimes a baseball player who falls into a game looks proud. Kwak Do-gyu (22), who led the KIA Tigers to the Korean Series, cited video games as the secret to rapid rehabilitation.

Kwak Do-gyu pitched the bullpen at the 2026 KIA Spring Camp held at Kin Town Baseball Stadium in Kin, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan on the 25th.

It has been nine months since Tommy John Surgery in May last year. Kwak Do-gyu started pitching in earnest from the first camp and is currently pitching in the bullpen every four days. On this day, he threw various pitches, including fastball, sliders, and two-seam fastballs. A total of 48 pitches were thrown, and the maximum speed was 139 kilometers per hour. KIA's general manager Shim Jae-hak, who was watching this, said, "(Kwak) Do-gyu, the ball is too fast. Kwak Do-gyu was in such good condition that he jokingly expressed concern, saying, "People are here."

In response, Kwak Do-gyu laughed and said, "It is going well step by step without overpace," and added, "In the first camp, the part that needed to be raised in the step of raising the ball speed did not come up because the weather was cold. But now, the restraint is coming out as desired. I think the general manager was also worried with a good heart," he said.

Kwak Do-gyu is a left-hander who joined KIA in the 42nd place in the fifth round of the 2023 KBO Rookie Draft after graduating from Dochuk Elementary School, Gongju Middle School, and Gong High School. In 2024, his second year, he rose to the must-win group with a maximum speed of 152 km per hour and contributed to winning the KIA Korean Series.

Last year, which was highly anticipated, he ended the season early with elbow surgery. He must have been frustrated with his first surgery and rehabilitation.

Kwak Do-gyu said, "The seniors who were rehabilitated told me to have a hobby separate from baseball so that I couldn't think of baseball. I played games and watched dramas, but it was hard at first. Still, after throwing the ball, I had a little fun in rehabilitation," he recalled.

I was able to speed up my rehabilitation at an unexpected point. It is a video game "Cyberpunk" series recommended by foreign pitcher Adam Oler. Kwak Do-gyu said, "I had surgery in Japan and put a cast on my arm, and since my hands were fixed, I recommended (at the hospital) to use my cell phone." "Because I have surgery, my fingers swell all the way to the end. At first, I feel stiff and have the inconvenience of not being able to move my joints at will," he added.

When asked which game was fun, Oler recommended it as Cyberpunk. I was so bad at computer games that I didn't even dare to start. But the PlayStation joystick was very helpful in moving your fingers. I first realized that there was a positive part of the game," he said.

From the moment the ball was thrown, it became distant from the game again. He had no more interesting hobby than baseball. Kwak Do-gyu said, "I didn't take up much time after rehabilitation and exercise. The game only helped a lot in the beginning. It was good because the referees came today as well as it was a real game," he said.

"What I'm aiming for now is to put the ball one above the strike zone. There were a lot of balls today, but there were more balls that were satisfied even if they were balls, and there was a ball that was disappointing even if they entered the strike zone. I'm enjoying the rehabilitation process itself," he said with a smile.

My goal this season was only to finish the race in good health. Typically, a player who has undergone Tommy John surgery undergoes a year of rehabilitation. Therefore, Kwak Do-gyu will not be able to enter the Champions Field until June.

Kwak Do-gyu said, "Even in my few years, it's really exciting to go to work at Champions Field, not Hampyeong. I miss that energy that I can only feel in the championship because it doesn't fill up no matter what I do. So I want to go back quickly and I'm motivated," he said with strength.

He said, "I didn't set my personal grades as a separate goal. "The goal is to prepare perfectly even if it's a little late and finish the 2026 season in the first team," he stressed.

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*This content was translated by AI.