The 2025 Korean Baseball Organization season begins Saturday, March 22, with all games at 1 a.m. EDT.
Fans can watch all 2025 KBO games on SoopLive, Naver TV, Kakao TV, and SPOTV. KBO statistics are available at MyKBO Stats and KoreaBaseball.com.
All 10 KBO teams will start a foreign-born pitcher on Opening Day for the first time since 2017.
Cody Ponce will start for the Hanwha Eagles on the road against KT Wiz lefty Emmanuel De Jesus at Suwon KT Wiz Park in Suwon, South Korea. Choi Won-ho manages the Eagles, and Lee Kang-chul leads KT Wiz.
Righty Yonny Chirinos will take the mound for the LG Twins at home at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, against Lotte Giants lefty Charlie Barnes. Youm Kyoung-youb manages the LG Twins. Kim Tae-hyoung is at the helm for Lotte.
NC Dinos lefty Logan Allen will face off against KIA Tigers right-hander James Naile at Gwangju Kia Champions Field. Kang In-kwon leads the Dinos, and Lee Bum-ho manages the Tigers.
Doosan Bears lefty Cole Irvin will start against right-hander Drew Anderson for the SSG Landers at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon-Munhak, South Korea. Lee Seung-yuop manages Doosan, while Kim Jae-hyun leads SSG Landers.
Southpaw Kenny Rosenberg will start for the Kiwoom Heroes at Daegu Samsung Lions Park against Samsung Lions righty Ariel Jurado. Hong Won-ki manages the Heroes, and Park Jin-man leads the Lions.
The defending champion KIA Tigers won their 12th Korean Series title in 2024, defeating the Samsung Lions in five games. KIA also finished with the league’s best regular season record at 87-55-2.
The 2025 KBO regular season will implement new rules. Extra-innings games during the regular season will end after 11 innings, and the automatic-ball strike zone has been adjusted downward by 0.6 percentage points on both the upper and lower bounds, according to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO on March 19.
KBO Changes:
-Extra innings games during the regular season will end after 11 innings
-The ABS strike zone has been adjusted downward by 0.6 percentage points on both the upper and lower bounds. pic.twitter.com/Qs6qvtVj7K
— Dan Kurtz (@MyKBO) March 19, 2025
The league will start weekend games in July and August at 6 p.m. Korea Standard Time. Broadcasters and stadiums will standardize pitch velocity displays, and the Korean Series will follow a 2-3-2 home game structure.
-Weekend games during the July/August will start at 6 PM
-The display of pitch velocity on broadcast and stadium scoreboards will be standardized.
-The home game format for the Korean Series has been changed to a 2-3-2 structure.
— Dan Kurtz (@MyKBO) March 19, 2025
Dan Kurtz also reported that the league adjusted the three-foot lane at first base to the standard 60.96 cm. Runners can now stay on dirt in fair territory, and stepping on grass no longer results in an automatic out. The league expanded video replay to include whether a batter or runner is hit by a ball and introduced a new Manager of the Year award.
-Three-foot lane at 1B has been adjusted to league standard of 60.96cm; runners can run on dirt inside fair territory and stepping on grass is not an auto out
-Video review will now allow batter/runner hit by ball to be reviewed
-New KBO manager of year award
— Dan Kurtz (@MyKBO) March 19, 2025
The KBO will be in its 43rd season when the league starts on March 22 at 1 a.m. EDT.
Photo Source: AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez
