Defending KBO champions Wiz lose slugger Kang Baek-ho for 1 month to toe injury

All News 14:41 March 28, 2022

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, March 28 (Yonhap) -- The defending South Korean baseball champions KT Wiz will be without their best hitter for the first month of the season.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) club said Monday first baseman Kang Baek-ho recently suffered a broken right pinky toe after taking a fall down the stairs and will miss about a month of action.

Kang Baek-ho of the KT Wiz takes a swing against the Lotte Giants during a Korea Baseball Organization preseason game at Sajik Stadium in Busan, some 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on March 24, 2022, in this photo provided by the Wiz. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Kang's absence will leave a huge hole in the heart of the Wiz's lineup. The 22-year-old is coming off the best season of his career in 2021, when he batted .347/.450/.521 with 16 home runs and 102 RBIs. Kang flirted with the elusive .400 average before finishing third in the batting race. He also ranked second in the KBO with 179 hits and 102 RBIs, third with 40 doubles and 103 walks. Kang finished third in the regular season MVP voting. The 2022 season will be Kang's fifth.

Veteran Park Byung-ho, who signed with the Wiz as a free agent, will handle the first base duties, while Kang is sidelined. The Wiz had planned to use Park as their primary designated hitter.