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| KIA Tigers' team left for Irvine, California, USA, where spring camp was set up at Incheon International Airport on the morning of the 23rd. Yoon Do-hyun is entering the departure hall. Incheon Airport = Reporter Jeong Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.1.23/ |
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"I think I have high expectations for that player."
KIA Tigers manager Lee Bum-ho expressed his expectations for infield prospect Yoon Do-hyun (22). Yoon Do-hyun graduated from Gwangju Jeil High School and wore a KIA uniform as the 15th pick in the second round of the 2022 Rookie Draft. Kim Do-young (22), the first designated infielder in 2022, is a close friend and a motivation to join the team.
While both Yoon Do-hyun and Kim Do-young were evaluated as top prospects, Kim Do-young worked first last year. Kim Do-young ranked the KBO League and won the MVP in 141 games last season with a batting average of 0.347 (189 hits in 544 at-bats), 38 homers, 40 steals, 109 RBIs, and 1.067 OPS. Kim Do-young's annual salary, which was 100 million won, soared to 500 million won this year. It was the highest treatment ever in his fourth year as a professional.
Yoon Do-hyun is a case where he has yet to show his skills due to injury. He stood out from the spring camp in 2022, but he fractured his right middle bone during the exhibition game and blew the entire season that year. The pace was good enough to be selected as the MVP of the first-team spring camp in 2023 and last year, but he was frustrated again due to injuries to his side and left hand.
Still, he showed some results when he was healthy. Yoon Do-hyun recorded 11 hits in 27 at-bats (a batting average of 0.407), one home run, eight RBIs, and an OPS of 1.000 in six first-team games last year. I got a brief chance at the end of September, but all but one game were multi-hit, raising expectations.
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| KIA Tigers' team left for Okinawa, Japan, where the second camp was set up, through Incheon International Airport on the 20th. Director Lee Beom-ho is heading to the departure hall. Incheon Airport = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.02.20/ |
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| KIA Tigers' team left for Okinawa, Japan, where the second camp was set up, through Incheon International Airport on the 20th. Kim Do-young is heading to the departure hall. Incheon Airport = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.02.20/ |
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KIA manager Lee Bum-ho returned to Incheon International Airport on the 19th and praised Yoon Do-hyun while reviewing the first Irvine spring camp in the U.S. Yoon Do-hyun, infielder Byun Woo-hyuk, pitchers Hwang Dong-ha and Kim Do-hyun were selected as the first camp MVP.
Coach Lee said, "(Yoon Do-hyun) is a good player, and there were things that I honestly worried about because of the injury rather than the ability every time. But Yoon Do-hyun seems to have prepared very well this time. While watching the exhibition game or the second camp in Okinawa, Japan, I'm going to check which position will suit Yoon Do-hyun. I think I have high expectations for the player because I've seen a lot of people trying to improve their performance."
Yoon Do-hyun will receive an annual salary of 32 million won this year. It rose slightly from last year's annual salary of 30 million won (the lowest salary for professional baseball players). He has not had the opportunity to raise his ransom because he has struggled with injuries for the past three years. Yoon Do-hyun seems to have received a good stimulus that will help him grow in the future as he watched his friend Kim Do-young become a high-paid player at once last year.
Will Yoon Do-hyun be able to establish himself as a hit product for KIA this year without injury and make a performance worthy of the evaluation of 2 Kim Do-young.
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| KIA Tigers Yoon Do-hyun. Photo courtesy = KIA Tigers |
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| KIA Tigers coach Lee Bum-ho (right) is guiding Yoon Do-hyun's batting. Photo courtesy = KIA Tigers |
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
