The KIA Tigers are in first place in the KBO standings but may not be the best postseason team in the league. The second-place Samsung Lions have a terrific pitching rotation and should be the favorite to win the KBO title.
The Lions sit two games behind the KIA Tigers in the KBO standings but have three starting pitchers who can be categorized as an ace. Won Tae-In, Danti Reyes, and Connor Seabold all currently have a top ten ERAs in the league. Because of this, the Samsung Lions are a postseason threat to any team in a playoff series.
Won Tae-In is considered the Lions ace pitcher. Tae-In has an impressive 3.49 ERA in 113 and a third innings of work. The 24-year-old South Korean pitcher has been a KBO star since 2021, boasting an ERA under four from 2021 to 2024. Although Tae-In has had problems giving up home runs this year, the right-handed pitcher currently has a 1.21 WHIP, the lowest of his career.
The Samsung Lions’ number two pitcher is a Dominican Republic native Danyi Reyes. Reyes had a two-year stint in the MLB, from 2022 to 2023, with the Orioles and the Mets. 2024 marks Reyes’s first year in the KBO, and he has been dominant. Reyes has an impressive 3.68 ERA, eighth best in the league. The right-handed pitcher is a favorable matchup for the Lions against any number two pitcher in the KBO.
The Lions’ number three pitcher is far and away the best number three in the KBO. Seabold was a three-year MLB veteran before coming to the KBO in 2024. Seabold boasts an impressive 3.75 ERA with a 1.16 WHIP. The right-handed American pitcher is the only number three pitcher in the KBO with an ERA under four.
Due to their starting pitching depth, the Samsung Lions are a team that can win the 2024 title. This Lions squad looks extremely similar to the 2010 San Francisco Giants, who won the World Series behind the arms of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, and Jonathan Sanchez. Like the Lions, the Giants were not the odds-on favorites to win the title, but their pitching was too much for teams to handle in postseason baseball.
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WBN KBO: https://worldbaseball.com/league/south-korea/
Photo Credit: Pitcher Buchanan David #4 of Samsung Lions throws in the bottom of the sixth inning during the KBO League game between Sumsung Lions and Kiwoom Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome on April 03, 2021 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Han Myung-Gu/Getty Images)
