Is your favorite Korea Baseball Organization club on the outside looking in at a playoff spot? Time is ticking, and the final few weeks of the regular season are sure to be competitive.
The battle for first place between the KBO’s LG Twins and Hanwha Eagles is coming down to the wire. As of Wednesday, the Eagles are 2 1/2 games behind the Twins, and the two teams will meet later this month.
It’s time to check in on more of the latest news from the top professional baseball league in South Korea, the KBO.
KBO Holds Rookie Draft – The KBO held its annual Rookie Draft on Wednesday, and the Kiwoom Heroes selected pitcher Park Jun-hyun with the first overall pick. Park is the son of former Samsung Lions and NC Dinos third baseman Park Sok-min.
Park, 18, attended Bugil High School in Cheonan, South Korea, and had a 2.63 ERA in 40 ⅔ innings this past season, according to Yoo Jee-ho of Yonhap News Agency. Yoo also reports that there were allegations against Park earlier in the year for bullying his high school teammates, but the Heroes decided to move forward with the selection due to a lack of evidence in the case.
The Dinos selected third baseman Shin Jae-in with the second pick in the draft, and he struck out just 10 times in 122 plate appearances at Yushin High School, Yoo noted.
Landers Can Smash Home Runs With the Best of Them – In the fourth inning of their 7-3 win against the Dinos on Tuesday, the SSG Landers hit back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs.
Guillermo Heredia, Choi Jeong, Han Yoo-seom, and Ryu Hyo-seung each went deep against former Major League Baseball pitcher Logan Allen. Choi is the KBO’s all-time home run leader with 517 blasts.
According to the Chosun Daily, the Landers’ four homers marked the fourth time in KBO history a team has gone deep four consecutive times, and the Landers were the last to accomplish the feat on June 19, 2021.
Diaz Nearing Home Run Record – Samsung Lions first baseman Lewin Diaz is two home runs away from setting the KBO’s single-season record for most homers by a foreign player, hitting his 47th bomb of the year on Tuesday against the Lotte Giants.
The 28-year-old from the Dominican Republic has eight games remaining to surpass Yamaico Navarro’s record of 48 homers with the Lions in 2015. Diaz also has the opportunity to become the first foreign player in KBO history to hit 50 home runs in a season.
Additionally, Diaz has 139 RBIs this season and is just one away from tying Eric Thames for the most RBIs in a season by a foreign player. The former Miami Marlin has made an appearance in all 134 of the Lions’ games this year.
KBO Standings as of Wednesday, September 17
1. LG Twins (81-50-3)
2. Hanwha Eagles (79-53-3)
3. SSG Landers (67-61-4)
4. KT Wiz (66-64-4)
5. Samsung Lions (67-65-2)
6. Lotte Giants (64-65-6)
7. NC Dinos (62-64-6)
8. Kia Tigers (61-68-4)
9. Doosan Bears (56-72-6)
10. Kiwoom Heroes (46-87-4)
Where to Watch: Fans can stream the 2025 KBO season on the SOOP service. The KBO’s official YouTube page also posts game highlights and clips of other events, such as the All-Star Game and Golden Glove awards.
WBN KBO: https://worldbaseball.com/league/south-korea/korea-baseball-organization/
Photo: Lewin Diaz, shown here at Truist Park on Sept. 3, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia, is two homers away from the single-season home run record in the KBO League in South Korea. (Photo by Adam Hagy/Getty Images)
