KIA Kim Do-Young's secret behind his breakout season

This year’s KBO season could very well be remembered as the year of Kim Do-Young (KIA Tigers). Kim continued to shine after making history in April as the first player in the league to hit 10 home runs and steal 10 bases in a single month. In August, he became the youngest player ever (20 years, 10 months, 13 days) to join the prestigious ‘30-30 club’—30 home runs and 30 stolen bases—in just 111 games, the fewest in KBO history. His dominance didn’t stop there. By September, Kim was breaking records, surpassing Seo Geon-chang's 2014 mark for the most runs scored in a single season (135). With the regular season title secured for KIA, Kim now has his sights set on an even bigger milestone: 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases, a feat achieved only once before in KBO history by Eric Thames (then with NC) in 2015. Should Kim succeed, he would become the first Korean player to do so.

Kim Do-Young has been on the radar since he was the Tigers’ top pick in the 2022 rookie draft, touted as a future ‘30-30’ player. But what sparked his breakout this season? KIA manager Lee Beom-ho believes it was the decision to take a hands-off approach. “I thought he would grow faster without interference, whether in defense or offense,” said Lee. “Young players can become anxious, worrying, ‘What if I get benched for making mistakes?’ With Kim, I felt it was best to let him play freely.”

And play freely he did. In his first full season, Kim not only achieved 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases but also made 30 errors at third base. While some might call it an "infamous" record, Lee sees those 30 errors as crucial to Kim’s development.

“I didn’t hit 20 home runs until my fifth season,” Lee reflected. “I didn’t want Kim to go through the same growing pains I did. Aside from a few bonehead plays, I never criticized him for his errors. If you start hiding from mistakes, you’ll have to wait another year to chase these records. Every player has a season where they make a lot of errors, and once it’s behind them, the numbers drop to 20 or even 10.”

Each year, the rookie draft produces players hailed as ‘once-in-a-decade’ talents, some of whom catch the attention of Major League Baseball scouts. Yet, not all of them live up to their potential. As with diamonds, even the best raw talent needs the right kind of ‘polishing’ to shine.

The more promising the talent, the more tempting it is for coaches to step in and ‘fix’ something. But baseball is a game where even the best hitters fail seven out of 10 times. In the grind of a 144-game season, what’s more important than immediate success is learning how to handle failure and find opportunities in it. Kim Do-Young has turned the weight of expectations into reality, thanks to the trust given to him during his ‘no touch’ development period. After all, players aren’t stones to be shaped from the outside. They shine brightest when they are allowed to refine themselves.