Home > Sports > Baseball

Korea makes statement with 3 homers in exhibition in Japan

Published: 03 Mar. 2026, 18:51

Kim Do-yeong of Korea celebrates after hitting a three-run home run against the Orix Buffaloes during an exhibition game ahead of the World Baseball Classic at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka on March 3. [YONHAP]

TOKYO — With each swing of the bat in his buildup to his World Baseball Classic (WBC) debut, Korean slugger Kim Do-yeong is proving what he is capable of doing when he's healthy.

Kim homered for the second straight day and for his third straight game for the national team on Tuesday, as Korea defeated the Orix Buffaloes 8-5 at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka.

Kim wasn't alone, as Shay Whitcomb and Ahn Hyun-min, two other right-handed power hitters, also went deep as part of a 10-hit day for Korea.

It was Korea's second and final exhibition game against a Japanese club, following a 3-3 tie against the Hanshin Tigers on Monday, before the start of the WBC later this week. Korea will open Pool C play against the Czech Republic at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Tokyo Dome, with Japan, Chinese Taipei and Australia coming up later.

As it tries to make it out of the first round for the first time in four tries, Korea will hope that Kim, the 2024 regular-season MVP in the KBO for the Kia Tigers, will take his hot bat from Osaka to Tokyo.

Kim, 22, arrived in Osaka after homering in Korea's final scrimmage in the southwestern Japanese prefecture of Okinawa last week. Then in Monday's game, Kim launched a game-tying solo home run from the leadoff spot.

Kim was back at the top of the lineup Tuesday, and after striking out in his first time up against starter Raiku Katayama, Kim took the right-hander deep in the second inning.

With runners at the corners and Korea up 2-0, Kim took three straight balls before Katayama rallied to get the count to full. But the pitcher then hung a breaking ball over the heart of the plate, and Kim clobbered the pitch and deposited it into the seats in left-center field.

Kim put together a historic campaign in his MVP season, when he became the youngest player to have at least 30 homers and 30 steals in the same year, and established a KBO record with 143 runs scored.

In 2025, though, Kim only played 30 of the Tigers' 144 games due to three separate hamstring injuries. He had also missed big chunks of the 2022 and 2023 seasons because of health problems.

But when healthy, few hitters are as complete a package as Kim. He sprays the ball all over the field and packs a lot of power in a body that doesn't scream "slugger." If his hamstrings can hold up, Kim can also be a base-stealing threat.

Shay Whitcomb of Korea celebrates after hitting a solo home run against the Orix Buffaloes during an exhibition game ahead of the World Baseball Classic at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka on March 3. [YONHAP]

Whitcomb has also demonstrated his power-speed combination in Triple-A for the Houston Astros, with 50 home runs and 42 steals combined over the past two years there. Having only joined the national team in Osaka on Sunday after getting some spring training action in the United States, Whitcomb clearly needed some time to find his footing with Korea.

That he homered in just his second game with the team is an encouraging development for Korea, with four WBC games coming up in a five-day span starting Thursday.

Korea didn't need to worry much about the 22-year-old Ahn, the 2025 KBO Rookie of the Year who had already been hitting well since Okinawa. In Korea's last unofficial scrimmage there, Ahn and Kim had both homered, and the two friends repeated that feat Tuesday.

Ahn Hyun-min of Korea hits a solo home run against the Orix Buffaloes during an exhibition game ahead of the World Baseball Classic at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka on March 3. [YONHAP]

In 2025, Ahn was one of just two players with an on-base plus slugging (OPS) of over 1.000, and one of three players with at least a .300 batting average, .400 on-base percentage and .500 slugging percentage. Though he slowed down in the second half of the season, Ahn has recaptured his early-2025 form in Japan.

These three right-handed power bats give Korea a dimension that it lacked at previous tournaments. They now give more balance to a lineup that also features left-handed contact hitters like Lee Jung-hoo and Kim Hye-seong.

If Jahmai Jones, another right-handed bopper who posted a strong .937 OPS for the Detroit Tigers last year, can get it going at the plate, it will add even more depth to a team that is looking more dangerous by the day.

Yonhap