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Healthy again, ex-KBO MVP eager for fresh start in 2026

Published: 09 Jan. 2026, 12:30

Korean infielder Kim Do-yeong speaks to reporters at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on Jan. 9, before departing for Saipan for a national team training camp ahead of the World Baseball Classic. [YONHAP]

Kia Tigers third baseman Kim Do-yeong took the KBO by storm in 2024, winning the regular-season MVP award with massive offensive numbers across the board.

However, Kim was a forgotten man in 2025. He suffered three separate hamstring injuries and ended up playing only 30 of the team's 144 games — after playing in 141 games in his MVP season. Kim's last game of the 2025 season came on Aug. 7.

Still just 22 years old, the superstar is eager for a fresh start in 2026. And Kim will have his first chance to prove he's back to full health this month, as he joins the national team for training camp in Saipan in preparation for the World Baseball Classic (WBC).

"I think I am 100 percent healthy at the moment. I've been rehabbing and rebuilding my body since August," Kim told reporters Friday at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, before flying to Saipan. "I will practice and play the way I normally do."

Kim, who had also missed significant amounts of time with injuries in his first two KBO seasons in 2022 and 2023, admitted the road back to health was more of a mental challenge than a physical one this time.

"It was a bit difficult to recover mentally," he said. "But as a baseball player, I think I am supposed to bounce back after a bad season. I plan to do just that. I have complete trust in my body, even though others may not have the same faith."

Kim said he was grateful for a chance to train with the national team this month, even though he barely played in 2025.

"I really appreciate this, because I've had one good season in my career," said Kim, who exploded for 38 homers in 2024 but has just 17 homers in his three other seasons combined. "And I will try to reward [the KBO] with a great performance."

Kim has yet to play at a WBC but has represented Korea in smaller competitions, such as the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 in November 2024. Kim enjoyed his first big international moment here, batting .412 in five games with 10 RBIs and a video game-like 1.503 on-base plus slugging. Five of his seven hits went for extra bases, including three homers.

The WBC will be an even bigger showcase for Kim, who has already drawn some interest from major league scouts even though he needs four more full seasons to be eligible to be posted for big league clubs. And Kim himself insisted he isn't interested in trying to get himself noticed.

"When you play for the country, the team's performance is the most important thing, not individual statistics," Kim said. "As long as the team does well, then it will be a good tournament for me, even if I don't put up big numbers. I just want to play hard for the team and take us as far as possible."

Kim said his Tigers manager, Lee Bum-ho, asked him to try to return from Saipan in one piece. The worry is more than justified. The Tigers won the Korean Series in 2024 with Kim in his healthy, MVP form, but they finished in eighth place, third from the bottom, in 2025 with Kim missing well over 100 games.

Kim said he will probably be a little careful on the base paths early in the season, lest he hurt his hamstring again, but in the big picture, he won't change who he is as a player.

"I won't tell you that I will stop stealing bases, because I've built my body back up in order to steal bases again like I always have," said Kim, who has 81 career steals in 358 games, including a career-high 40 in 2024 and 25 the year before that. "I am nothing without steals. So I won't try to play it safe."

Yonhap