Kia’s Kim Do-yeong rejoins club after surgery on broken nose, reviving Asian Games hopes

Former KBO MVP Kim Do-yeong rejoined his club Friday following surgery to repair a broken nose, with hopes of remaining on the national team for the upcoming Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 in Japan.

The Kia Tigers announced that Kim was discharged from a local hospital in the southwestern city of Gwangju, a day after his surgery.

Kim suffered the injury during a KBO game Wednesday, when he bunted the ball off his face.

The Tigers claimed the injury is not considered serious, and they did not place him on the injured list, as the national team staff waits with bated breath to see if Kim will be available for the Asian Games.

He will not travel with the Tigers for their road game against the KT Wiz in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on Saturday, and will instead remain in Gwangju to work out on his own.

The Tigers said Kim will be with the team when they return to Gwangju on Sunday and he will be a game-time decision.

Kim, the 2024 league MVP, is considered a strong candidate for this year's MVP honor. Through Thursday's action, he was leading the KBO with 40 home runs and 105 runs scored, while also being among the leaders in walks, slugging percentage and on-base percentage.

After being limited to only 30 games in 2025 due to multiple hamstring injuries, Kim had played all 122 games for the Tigers this year before the injury.

National team players, all of them KBO stars, are scheduled to report to training camp Monday and depart for the host country next Friday.

Korea's first game is Sept. 21 against Chinese Taipei. Korea will try to win its fifth consecutive gold medal.

Yonhap