▲ Lee Joo-hyung ⓒ Hye-mi Kwak 기자
[SPOTV News, Gocheok — Park Seung-hwan] Kiwoom’s injury problems have escalated — players are now suffering injuries during games. The Heroes made two in-game substitutions due to injury.
Kiwoom hosted the NC Dinos at Seoul’s Gocheok Sky Dome on April 21 in the first meeting between the teams in the 2026 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League. Both departures came before the fourth inning.
The first to exit was Park Chan-hyuk. In the bottom of the second with one out and no runners, Park ripped an infield single toward third. After touching first base, he collapsed on the turf, having rolled his left ankle while stepping on the bag.
Park remained down for several minutes before leaving the field with assistance. A Kiwoom official said, “Park twisted his left ankle while running the bases in the bottom of the second and was replaced. He is scheduled for a hospital evaluation.”
Not long after, another injury forced a change. In the bottom of the third with one out and no runners, Lee Joo-hyung drilled a double off NC’s Drew VerHagen that smashed into the right-field wall. The ball came off the bat so hard that Lee sprinted full speed to second, but he appeared to have trouble while touching the bag.
▲ Park Chan-hyuk ⓒ Hye-mi Kwak 기자
▲ Lee Joo-hyung ⓒ Hye-mi Kwak 기자
After settling on second, Lee clutched his right hamstring. Kiwoom trainers rushed out to evaluate him, and Lee initially signaled that he wanted to continue. That relief was short-lived — he was soon unable to stay in the game and was replaced.
A team official said, “We removed him as a precaution after he reported pain in his right hamstring. We’ll check his condition tomorrow (the 22nd) and decide whether further medical testing is needed.”
Kiwoom’s roster has become, effectively, an infirmary. Before the season began they lost Seo Geon-chang, closer Jo Young-geon, fifth starter Kim Yoon-ha and bullpen arm Park Joo-seong to injuries. Since opening day, Jung Hyun-woo, Park Yoon-sung, Kim Tae-jin, Uh Jun-seo and even the $910,000 (approximately 1.21 billion KRW) ace Nathan Wiles have been sidelined by injury.
If Park Chan-hyuk and Lee also miss time, the Heroes could be down as many as 11 players — enough absences to field an entire starting lineup and then some.
