Third baseman Kim Do-yeong of the Kia Tigers has been named the most valuable player(MVP) in the Korea Baseball Organization(KBO) league for the 2024 season, just three years after his debut.

Kim received his first-ever MVP award at the KBO’s annual awards ceremony in Seoul on Tuesday after securing 95 of the 101 votes cast by members of the media. 

Kim, who competed full time for the first time this season, ranked near the top in eight batting categories.

He hit 38 home runs, the second-highest number in the league, and achieved a zero-point-348 batting average, finishing third in the category. 

In April, Kim scored ten home runs and ten steals, posting a new monthly record, and also broke Seo Geon-chang’s 2014 single-season record for runs scored after recording 143 runs for the season. 

Kim also became the second-youngest KBO league player to hit for the cycle, which occurs when a single batter hits a single, a double, a triple and a home run in the same game. 

He also made history by becoming the second player ever to hit for the cycle in the order of the fewest to the most total bases, which is called the natural cycle.