[Official] SSG Captain Kim Kwang-hyun Didn't Come Back 'End'... Two weeks of rehabilitation → shoulder surgery → Out in the first half of the year, "I'll be proud and cheer for you."

*This content was translated by AI.

SSG Landers Captain Kim Kwang-hyun (38), who also showed a strong will to return to the team despite shoulder surgery, failed to return to the team in the end.

The SSG club said on the 22nd, "Kim Kwang-hyun conducted a rehabilitation program for about two weeks due to osteoporosis in the rear of his left shoulder. After in-depth discussions, we decided to operate at a hospital in Nagoya, Japan, at the end of March," he officially announced. The rehabilitation period is at least six months. The club will support full medical and rehabilitation programs so that Kim Kwang-hyun can focus on recovery, he added.

It's a bolt out of the blue. Kim Kwang-hyun, who accepted the captain's position for the second consecutive year, put his regret behind his failure to advance to the Korean Series last year and prepared for the season of desperation. The shoulder pain, which had been bothering him since last year, finally stopped him.

The SSG club and Kim Kwang-hyun were also prepared. Before preparing for the spring camp, Kim Kwang-hyun said, "I suffered too much from my shoulder last year. It is most important to avoid such injuries this year. Assuming that he goes all the way to autumn baseball, he said, "If I want to be healthy until the end, I think I need to manage it better." SSG coach Lee Sung-yong also planned to place Kim Kwang-hyun as the fifth starter and put him on the mound only once a week. However, during the first-team camp in Miami, Florida, the U.S., last month, he returned to Korea due to shoulder pain and dark cloud hung over him.

Kim Kwang-hyun aimed to return by conducting a professional rehabilitation program in Japan for about two weeks from the 9th for shoulder function recovery and customized rehabilitation. There was little improvement, and in the end, the first half of the game was confirmed.

It is even more regrettable that the reason for the surgery was the result of fatigue accumulated by repeated pitches. Kim Kwang-hyun joined the SK Wyverns (currently SSG Landers) as the first designated KBO rookie draft in 2007 and played as a one-club man. Excluding the two years when he challenged the U.S. Major League Baseball, he played 2,321 ⅔ in 414 games in the KBO League alone, leading SSG to five Korean Series wins.

Even in the most unfortunate situation, he took care of the team first. Kim Kwang-hyun said through the club, "After a lot of consideration, I made the decision that it was surgery. I know that shoulder surgery can be fatal for a baseball player," he said.

"However, I will rehabilitate hard and come back with the hope of being able to stand on the mound for even a year more healthily," he stressed.

He also said, "I feel sorry for the fans and my teammates to leave the team due to injuries like this. During the rehabilitation period, I will also become a "shrug" and cheer hard. I hope our team will perform well this season," he said.

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*This content was translated by AI.