Matt Davidson has a Korea Baseball Organization-leading 42 home runs, seven more than Kia Tigers third baseman Kim Do-yeong. With 15 games remaining for Davidson and the NC Dinos, he has a chance to win the home run title and record the first 50 home run season since 2015.
The last 50-home run season came in 2015 when Park Byung-ho hit 53 home runs for the Nexen Heroes. Byung-ho is third all-time in KBO history. Davidson has a chance to be the first 50-home run hitter since one of the best the league has seen.
Davidson hit his 42nd home run on September 7 against the Samsung Lions. Davidson is filling up the stat sheet in his first KBO season. His .979 OPS ranks fifth in the league, and his 109 RBIs rank second.
Davidson is on pace to hit 47 home runs with his current 0.36 home runs per game if he plays in all 15 remaining games. However, the 33-year-old is currently hot at the plate. He has hit home runs in five of his last eight games.
Davidson is a former first-round pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks. After just 31 games with the team, he was traded to the Chicago White Sox. Even for the White Sox, his power was evident, as he hit 20-plus home runs in 2017 and 2018.
Davidson spent time in the MiLB, with his last big league action coming for the Oakland Athletics in 2022. He played for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in Nippon Professional Baseball and hit 19 home runs.
Even if he falls short of the 50-home run mark, Davidson is on pace to be the first American-born player since 2020 to lead the KBO in home runs, Mel Rojas Jr. being the last.
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WBN KBO: https://worldbaseball.com/league/south-korea/
Photo Credit: Matt Davidson #64 of the Cincinnati Reds flies out in the sixth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on August 07, 2020 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
