“(Park Byung-ho’s rehabilitation) said it would only take a week.”
Good news came with the start of May to KT, who had a brutal April, falling into a 9-game losing streak. While KT is suffering from a series of injuries to its key players, it was confirmed that the team’s main hitter, Park Byung-ho (37), was only slightly injured, making it possible to return faster than expected.
KT coach Kang-Cheol Lee met on the 2nd ahead of the first day of the 3-game series against SSG in the 2023 KBO League at SSG Landers Field in Incheon and informed him of Park Byung-ho’s condition.
Park Byeong-ho suffered a 안전놀이터left hamstring injury during a match against Suwon Samsung on the 30th of last month. In a situation where key players have already been injured one after another, the injury of Park Byung-ho, the team’s key hitter, was like a thunderstorm. Moreover, in a situation where he has failed to win a single victory with 1 draw and 9 losses in the last 10 matches, the gap for Park Byung-ho is bound to be even greater.
Previously, the KT club announced that Park Byeong-ho needed three weeks of treatment due to damage to his left hamstring as a result of an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) examination on the 1st. However, on this day, I received the result again that recovery was possible in a week.
According to the club, after Park Byeong-ho suffered a hamstring injury, he had an MRI scan at a club-designated hospital in Suwon, and sent the film to a hamstring specialist hospital in Seoul. After checking only the MRI scan at a specialized hospital in Seoul, he found that he needed three weeks of treatment. However, as a result of Byeong-ho Park’s visit to a specialized hospital that day and conducting face-to-face treatment, the diagnosis was made again that recovery was possible in a week.
This is good news for KT. As the vacancy of the fourth hitter decreased from the first three weeks to one week, he was relieved.
Director Lee said, “(Park Byeong-ho) at first thought it was a muscle tear, but they said it was a microscopic damage. He said he would be able to move in about a week, so he told me to rest for now.”
Park Byeong-ho, who went to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) national team held in Japan last March, played the season without a break. Coach Lee has no choice but to be mindful of the veteran’s fighting spirit.
Director Lee said, “In fact, I haven’t even rested since I went to (WBC). He has to see the season far away anyway, so I think it would be better to treat him safely. He (to District 2) told me not to go down, but to focus on treatment while accompanying him.”
On the other hand, KT started to escape its losing streak by putting many new faces in the first team, including infielders Moon Sang-jun (22) and Kang Min-seong (24), outfielder Lee Si-won (27), and pitcher Lee Seon-woo (23). In a situation where the main players were missing, they tried to reverse the atmosphere by putting forward young players. Attention is focusing on whether KT can succeed in escaping the losing streak by sacrificing SSG.