Samsung's Kim Young-woong (21) was substituted after suffering a finger injury against KT. His finger was broken when he was caught by a runner's foot. If it's a major injury, it's an emergency for Samsung.
Kim Young-woong started at third base in the No. 4 spot against KT in the 2024 KBO League at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, South Korea, and went 1-for-3 with two RBIs and two walks. That one hit was a home run.
Trailing 1-5 in the bottom of the eighth inning, David McKinnon's RBI single made it 2-5. Kim Young-woong followed with a three-run shot over the right-field wall. It tied the game at 5-5. It was his 12th home run of the season.
So far, so good. The team lost 5-8. They scored three runs in the top of the 11th inning. Kim Young-woong was injured. The butterfly effect was huge.
In the top of the 11th, Kim Jae-yoon walked Cheon Sung-ho to lead off. In the next at-bat, Mel Rojas Jr. stole second base.
Kim Young-woong came in to cover the bases. He started at third base, but Lee Jae-hyun left the field in the third inning with a hamstring problem. Kim Young-woong moved to shortstop.
Chun Sung-ho came in with a head-first slide, and Kim Young-woong tried to tag the throw from the catcher. Narrowly safe. At that moment, Kim Young-woong's right hand caught Cheon Sung-ho's back foot. Kim complained of great pain and was immediately substituted.
A Samsung official said, “Kim Young-woong's right thumb was folded during the defense. We replaced 사설토토 him to protect the player. We are checking his condition in the training room.”
The loss of Kim shook Samsung to its core. Ryu Ji-hyuk, who was playing third base, moved to second base, and second baseman Kim Jae-sang moved to shortstop. Jeon Byeong-woo, who was waiting on the bench, stepped in at third base and made an error, making the score 5-8. It was a heartbreaking situation in many ways.
We don't know the extent of Kim Young-woong's injury. We'll have to wait and see. If the finger is severely broken, the injury could be serious. Samsung would be without their number four hitter for a while.
Kim Young-woong has been nothing short of heroic this season. In 46 games, he's batting .301 with 12 home runs, 32 RBIs, a .389 on-base percentage, a .566 slugging percentage, and a .955 OPS.
It's a career-high season. Manager Park Jin-man is batting him fourth in the order. Kim Young-woong is also living up to expectations. The injury came out of nowhere.
Won Tae-in, the starter of the day, seemed to have a bad back. He pitched until the fifth inning, but he was definitely not 100%. Lee Jae-hyun also pulled his hamstring and was replaced. Kim Young-woong was also injured. It's more than a loss for Samsung.