'Same' June return, but An Hyun-min drops from AG representative team → Yoon Dong-hee and Park Jun-soon selected... What was the difference in interpreting injured players?

*This content was translated by AI.

The outfield for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Korean baseball national team, led by manager Ryu Ji-hyun (55), has been finalized.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) held a press conference at the Korea Press Center in Seoul's Jung-gu district on the 11th and announced the final roster for the representative team. Manager Ryu Ji-hyun (55) of the representative team, KBO Jeon Ryeok-gang-hwa (Chairman) Jo Gye-hyeon (62), and Kim Myung-ju (53), a member of the KBSA Game Performance Improvement Committee, attended the press conference to explain the reasons for selecting the roster.

As in the previous tournament, the team was built primarily around players under 25 years of age. Three wildcards were selected from players under 29. Since the KBO League will continue without interruption during the Asian Games period, the number of players from each club was set to a minimum of one and a maximum of three, including wildcards.

When limiting by age, the outfield position was surprisingly difficult to fill. There were not many young center fielders under 25, and finding corner outfielders with power was also unexpectedly hard. Fortunately, Kim Ji-chan (25), a gold medalist from the Hangzhou Asian Games, remained healthy, and second-year player Park Jae-hyun (20) showed potential with a .282 batting average in 58 games, resolving the center fielder issue.

While Moon Hyun-bin (22) secured one corner outfield spot, the absence of last year's Rookie of the Year, An Hyun-min (23, KT Wiz), was a concern. An Hyun-min, who displayed immense power last year with 22 home runs and 80 RBIs, was heading toward MVP this year with a .365 batting average (52 at-bats, 19 hits) and an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 1.161 in 14 games.

However, a variable emerged when he suffered a severe right hamstring injury while running the bases during the Changwon NC Dinos game on April 15. Unlike Heo Gyeong-min (36, KT), who suffered the same hamstring injury on the same day and returned on May 12, An Hyun-min has yet to return.

An Hyun-min is aiming for a return in mid-June. With still three months left until the Asian Games, he could have been selected if needed. However, the rehabilitation period was longer than expected, and the committee interpreted his injury differently from other injured players despite a similar expected return time.

Park Jun-soon (20, Doosan Bears) and Yoon Dong-hee (23, Lotte Giants), both scheduled to return in June, were selected while An Hyun-min was excluded. Park Jun-soon suffered a right thigh muscle injury on the 15th of last month, and Yoon Dong-hee sustained a pelvic contusion while showering on May 16, keeping him out of games for nearly a month. Both Park Jun-soon and Yoon Dong-hee have begun technical training and are aiming for a return by the end of June.

Jo Gye-hyeon (Chairman) stated, "The injured players we confirmed are Park Jun-soon, So Hyoung-jun, and Yoon Dong-hee. So Hyoung-jun and Yoon Dong-hee have joined the minor league, and we heard Park Jun-soon will return at the end of June. Additionally, under tournament regulations, injured players can be replaced before the start, and we considered this point as well."

Manager Ryu Ji-hyun also emphasized, "We spent a lot of time and thought carefully about the final roster. The first priority was gaining fans' understanding, and the second was balancing teams so that no single team would be disadvantaged. We made many efforts to achieve an objective balance."

He continued, "I personally think it would be very good for An Hyun-min to join the representative team. He is a player recognized even in international tournaments. However, he has been out due to injury for over two months, and the hamstring is a very risky area with concerns of recurrence. Also, his recovery speed was slower than originally planned. We considered these factors as well."

Among these, the reality that there was not a single right-handed outfielder was taken into account for Yoon Dong-hee. Yoon Dong-hee received a military service exemption through the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games and has consistently worn the Taegeuk mark since then. This year, he has struggled with poor performance, batting .204 (103 at-bats, 21 hits) with 3 home runs, 8 RBIs, and 15 runs scored in 30 games, with an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.670. Usually, this would have made selection for the representative team difficult, but there was still a burden in forming the outfield with only left-handed hitters.

For Yoon Dong-hee, the only thing left is to bounce back with the abundant remaining time and live up to that trust. The representative team also places hope on Yoon Dong-hee's abundant international tournament experience. Manager Ryu Ji-hyun expressed expectations, saying, "We spent a lot of time and held many meetings since April. Some players were in good condition in April, while others declined in May. Therefore, we cannot guarantee which players will be in the best condition for the game on September 21 (the first Asian Games game). We selected them focusing on the probability that these players will perform best."

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.