Gwangju: Kia Tigers All-Star Kim Do-yeong, one of South Korean baseball's top sluggers, suffered a broken nose in an ill-fated bunt attempt Wednesday, putting his status for the upcoming Asian Games in jeopardy. Kim tried to bunt for a hit during a Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) game against the NC Dinos at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in the southwestern city of Gwangju on Wednesday, but the ball ended up striking him in the nose.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Kim started bleeding immediately as a team trainer sprinted out of the dugout and covered Kim's face with a towel. Visibly upset at himself, Kim was promptly removed from the game for pinch hitter Park Min. The Tigers later said X-rays and a CT scan revealed a broken nose and they will determine the next step for Kim after further consultation with medical staff.
Kim's injury is a devastating blow both for the Tigers and for the national baseball team competing at the Asian Games in Japan later this month. The Tigers, who lost Wednesday's game 5-4, are in fourth place with a win-loss-tie record of 66-53-2, a game back of the LG Twins. The Tigers are trying to grab the No. 3 seed for the postseason and earn a bye to the first-round series.
Kim, the 2024 KBO MVP, was enjoying a bounceback season after an injury-plagued 2025 campaign. He was limited to only 30 games last year after suffering three hamstring injuries, but he has played all 121 games so far this year, a streak that will almost certainly end after Wednesday's injury. He is leading the KBO with his career-high 40 home runs and sits fifth in the league with 99 RBIs. He owns the second-highest on-base plus slugging with 1.049.
The 22-year-old was expected to bat in the heart of the South Korean lineup for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, where the country will try to win its fifth consecutive gold medal. National team members, all of them KBO stars, are scheduled to open training camp next Tuesday in Seoul and to depart for Nagoya on Sept. 18. South Korea's first game is against Chinese Taipei on Sept. 21.