Kim Do-young (22) started in a practice game against Hiroshima in the Japanese pro baseball league held on Tuesday. It was the first game held since KIA started off-season training. Kia decided to elevate its body as slowly as possible this year and delay its actual training, but moved to Okinawa, Japan, after the first round of training in Irvine, the U.S., and began its actual training in earnest.먹튀검증

Among them, most of the main players will play only in the last practice game of the camp, but contrary to previous plans, Kim participated in the game. Kim Do-young volunteered to hit the ball to Japanese pitchers, and Kia Tigers coach Lee Bum-ho gave the go-ahead.

Kim had one hit, one walk and one run from two times at bat on the day. Rather than a hit, the walk he got at his first at-bat surprised everyone on the day. Against Hayato Tsunehiro, who started the game in Hiroshima, he picked up a fork ball that was dripping from the full count and got on base. The bat almost went out, but he held it in well.

"In the past, I would have swung at a ball that fell so well," KIA batting coach Hong Se-wan said. "I would have endured it leisurely in the front, but when I saw (the bat) going out on a ball that anyone could swing at the full count, I asked him how he endured it. I was surprised to see him say that he had endured it, but I was also surprised to see that he felt something."

Kim had a batting average of 0.347 with 38 homers and 109 RBIs and 40 steals last year, becoming the youngest player ever to hit 30 homers and 30 steals, and ranked first in the league in scoring (143) and slugging percentage (0.647) and OPS (1.067). As he recorded a historic performance in his third year since debut, he has high expectations for the next step. Kim Do-young, who volunteered to participate to test himself in his first practice game, raised expectations by showing a different performance from his first at-bat.

Coach Hong Se-wan said, "When I started training in the U.S., I was very prepared, but seeing that anyone felt it with a ball worth swinging, I think I can upgrade it to another level here," adding, "I'm still doing well enough, but I'm surprised that he can really do better here."

Kim also has meaning in this regard. "I didn't have much information about opponent pitchers, but since I was a Japanese pitcher, I thought I would throw a folk ball. Hiroshima's main catcher was his main catcher in the Premier 12. I remember I couldn't hit a folk ball then, and I wondered if that's why I use folk balls more often," Kim said. "I felt better when I walked at the first batter's box than when I had a hit at the second batter's box, and received good responses from other players."

Kim Do-young, the MVP of last year's regular season, started preparing for the new season after spending a hectic winter after seizing the KBO League. She was behind in preparation compared to previous years and despite the recommendation to take her time, she accelerated her preparation for the season. As she intensified her off-season personal training, which started later than usual, she entered the camp with her palms severely cut and torn, and showed strong grit to the extent that she was worried about "Stop it."

Still, she completed all training sessions without exception. Her palms are almost fully recovered, and her preparation is in the best condition among the training sessions she took after her debut.

Kim Do-young's 2025 is the biggest issue that everyone in the league is curious about. Kim has taken another step up from his 2024 counterpart Kim Do-young, who was "all-time" to the point where he wondered if he could play better here. He showed it in his first game and first at-bat in 2025.