As the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason rapidly approaches, we look back at which former MLB players have made a statement in Korea’s highest level of baseball. Here are ten former MLB players who have been excelling in the KBO.
Socrates Brito, OF, KIA Tigers (MLB Experience: Arizona Diamondbacks, 2015-2018; Toronto Blue Jays, 2019)
Socrates Brito was most known around the baseball world for his unique name, but it’s easy to forget that he was once a highly regarded prospect. He represented the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2015 Futures Game and was named the organization’s player of the year after batting .300 with nine home runs and 15 triples at Double-A Mobile.
After batting .303 in a 33 at-bat cup of coffee at the end of the season, Brito got an extended look in 2016 but struggled to the tune of a .179 batting average while missing time with a broken toe. He didn’t return to the MLB until 2018 before ending his MLB career with a 17-game stint with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2019. Brito hit .179 in the MLB with five home runs and 18 RBI.
After spending time in the Dominican Winter League (LIDOM) and the Yankees Triple-A team, Brito signed with the KIA Tigers prior to the 2022 season. He has been a productive player over the last three seasons, batting an even .300 and making the All-Star team two times. He has been at his best in 2024, already setting career highs with 24 home runs and 94 RBI. Though not the biggest name in the lineup, Brito has played a major part in the Tigers league-leading offense and will look to continue his success into the postseason.
Matthew Davidson, 1B, NC Dinos (MLB Experience: Arizona Diamondbacks, 2013 and 2022; Chicago White Sox, 2016-18, Cincinnati Reds, 2020; Oakland Athletics, 2020)
The Diamondbacks’ first-round pick in the 2009 MLB draft, Davidson steadily moved up the prospect ranks due to his light-tower power. He hit a combined 88 home runs during his first four years in the minor leagues and was rewarded with four straight appearances inside the Baseball America preseason top 100 prospects. Davidson made his major league debut in 2013, posting a solid .237/.333/.434 line with three home runs in 31 games.
Looking to shore up a shaky bullpen, the Diamondbacks traded Davidson to the White Sox for closer Addison Reed. Davidson spent the next two seasons with the Triple-A Charlotte Nights before finally getting a callup in 2016. Unfortunately, he broke his foot in his first MLB game and missed the rest of the season.
Davidson would finally get a healthy, extended look over the next two seasons, hitting a combined 46 home runs and driving in 130 runs. This included a three-homer performance on Opening Day in 2018, becoming just the fourth player in MLB history to accomplish such a feat.
The White Sox, however, decided to non-tender Davidson, and he ended up signing a minor-league contract with the Texas Rangers. Davidson would spend the next four seasons piling up home runs in Triple-A with occasional short appearances in MLB. He signed a one-year contract with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in the NPB before moving to the KBO for the 2024 season.
In his first season with the NC Dinos, Davidson quickly established himself as one of the best power hitters in the KBO. He leads the league with 45 home runs while ranking in the top five OPS and RBI. In his 16 seasons in professional baseball, Davidson has an impressive 348 home runs and 1124 RBI.
Austin Dean, 1B, LG Twins (MLB Experience: Miami Marlins, 2018-19; St. Louis Cardinals, 2020; San Francisco Giants, 2022)
A fourth-round pick of the Marlins in the 2012 draft, Austin Dean had a solid-if-unspectacular minor-league career before breaking out in 2018. A .326/.397/.475 slash line earned him his MLB debut with the Marlins, where he homered four times in 34 games. Dean got a slightly longer look in 2019, homering six times and driving in 21 over 64 games.
LG's Austin Dean broke the Twins' team record for most RBI's in the season with 121 RBI so far this season. Today he went 2-4 with 3 RBI to help the Twins beat Hanwha 9-3 https://t.co/PLzDE9b0fS
— Dan Kurtz (@MyKBO) September 7, 2024
Dean spent the 2020 and 2021 with the St. Louis Cardinals organization but only played 43 games due to injuries. He rebounded with a solid 2022 campaign with the Sacramento Rivers Cats, the San Francisco Giants Triple-A affiliate, and earned a contract with the KBO’s LG Twins.
In his first season in Korea, Dean earned an All-Star appearance with a .314 batting average and 23 home runs. He re-signed with the Twins prior to the 2024 season and has taken his game to another level, leading the league with an incredible 122 RBI while blasting 31 home runs. He will look to continue his dominant ways into the postseason and help the Twins win their second straight Korean Series title.
Guillermo Heredia, OF, SSG Landers (MLB Experience: Seattle Mariners, 2015-18; Tampa Bay Rays, 2019; Pittsburgh Pirates, 2020; New York Mets, 2020; Atlanta Braves, 2021–2022)
A 15-year veteran, Heredia has been well-traveled during his baseball career. He began his career in Cuba with the Cocodrilos de Matanzas, spending six years with the club and representing the country in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. After defecting in 2015, Heredia signed a major league contract with the Seattle Mariners. He spent the 2017 and the 2018 seasons as one of the Mariners everyday outfielders, playing in over 120 games each season.
After getting traded from the Mariners to the Rays in the 2018 offseason, Heredia bounced around four different teams, mainly as a fourth or fifth outfielder. His best moments came with the Atlanta Braves, where he played in ten games during their 2021 World Series championship run.
🇨🇺 Guillermo Heredia makes history in the KBO! 🇰🇷⚾️
He is now the single-season hits leader for the SSG Landers, breaking Jung Eui-yoon’s 2016 record with 180 hits.
Heredia is currently leading the KBO with a .358 average.#에레디아pic.twitter.com/xf14jadMmN
— CubanBaseballZone 🇨🇺⚾️🌎 (@CubanBaseballZN) September 16, 2024
Following his second season with the Braves, Heredia was designated for assignment, opening the door for an opportunity with the SSG Landers. He was solid in 2023, homering 12 times and batting .324, before fully breaking out in 2024. He currently leads the league with a .362 average while posting career highs with 18 home runs and 108 RBI.
Victor Reyes, OF, Lotte Giants (MLB Experience: Detroit Tigers, 2018-2022)
Throughout his 12-year career in American baseball, Reyes proved to be a skilled hitter. He first burst onto the prospect scene by hitting .342 in rookie ball for the Braves in 2013, then posted at least a .290 average for three straight years in the Diamondbacks system. Reyes finally got a chance in the MLB after being selected by the Tigers in the Rule 5 draft.
Over five years in Detroit, Reyes hit a respectable .264, including a career-high .304 in 2019. He also became the first Tigers player in over 40 years to hit a pinch-hit, inside-the-park home run. Reyes would sign with the White Sox in 2022 and blasted a career-high 20 home runs with the Triple-A Charlotte Knights. That performance earned him a one-year contract with the Lotte Giants.
This season, Reyes has maintained his power surge from last season with 14 home runs and 36 doubles but has also batted a career-high .351, which ranks second in the KBO. Reyes is now just 12 hits away from reaching the 1500-hit milestone in his professional career.
Lotte's Victor Reyes with the 10th inning go-ahead RBI to lift the Giants to the 2-1 win over LG https://t.co/BQ1eOBHcim
— Dan Kurtz (@MyKBO) September 10, 2024
Andrew Anderson, RHP, SSG Landers (MLB Experience: Philadelphia Phillies, 2017-2019; Chicago White Sox, 2020; Texas Rangers, 202)
Picked in round 21 by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2012, Anderson surprised everyone by becoming an organizational All-Star in 2013 after posting a 2.00 ERA in 15 starts. Unfortunately, Anderson’s progress was stalled due to Tommy John surgery in 2015, but he bounced back in 2016 with a 2.70 ERA in 15 starts. His 2017 campaign was even better, as he was named an Eastern League All-Star and made his major league debut in August.
Anderson pitched parts of the next three seasons with the Phillies before moving on to brief appearances with the White Sox and Rangers. In 2022, Anderson signed with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of the Nippon Professional Baseball League. After an up-and-down season, Anderson posted a terrific 2.20 ERA in 2023, earning him a minor-league contract with the Detroit Tigers.
Anderson would pitch just 14 Triple-A innings before signing with the SSG Landers. Over 21 appearances this season, Anderson has posted a 9-2 record with a solid 3.86 ERA. Most notably, he has displayed the best swing-and-miss stuff of his career, striking out 144 batters in 102.2 innings.
William Cuevas, RHP, KT WIZ (MLB Experience: Boston Red Sox, 2016 and 2018; Detroit Tigers, 2017)
Along with Guillermo Heredia, Cuevas is one of two players in the KBO with a World Series ring. After debuting in the Red Sox Dominican Summer League in 2009 as an 18-year-old, Cuevas spent eight seasons in the minor league system before getting a cup of coffee at the end of the 2016 season. After a quick stint with the Tigers, Cuevas returned to the Red Sox and tallied 17 innings for the 2018 World Series champion.
Following the 2018 season, Cuevas signed with the KT Wiz and immediately became one of the league’s most consistent and durable starters. From 2019-2021, Cuevas made 90 starts and threw over 460 innings. He was rewarded with the first Korean Series start in franchise history, delivering 7.2 innings of one-run ball while striking out eight. For his efforts, he was named the MVP of a game.
After spending a season back in the United States with the Dodgers, Cuevas returned to the Wiz with his best season yet, going 12-0 with a 2.60 ERA. His August was especially spectacular, as he won Player of the Month by allowing just two runs in 36 innings. Cuevas hasn’t been as sharp in 2024, but he has struck out a career-high 149 batters over 169 innings.
Kyle Hart, LHP, NC Dinos (MLB Experience: Boston Red Sox, 2020)
A control-and-command left-hander from Indiana, not much was expected of Kyle Hart when he was selected in the 19th round of the 2016 draft. Yet after a 2017 season that saw Hart jump two levels and post a 2.15 ERA, Hart established himself as a legitimate big-league prospect. He was promoted to Triple-A in 2019 and made four starts in the shortened 2020 season.
Hart spent the next three seasons with the Red Sox, Phillies, and Mariners Triple-A teams before signing with NC Dinos for the 2024 season. In his debut campaign in the KBO, the crafty lefty has not just posted the best numbers of his career but has arguably been the best pitcher in the entire league. He leads all pitchers with a 2.44 ERA while ranking second in wins and strikeouts. Though his Dinos have been eliminated from postseason contention, Hart still has a very good case to bring home some hardware this season.
Ariel Jurado, RHP, Kiwoom Heroes (MLB Experience: Texas Rangers, 2018-2019; New York Mets, 2020)
Throughout his 11-year professional career, Jurado has proven himself as a consistent and durable strike-thrower. As a 21-year-old in Double-A Frisco, Jurado turned in 27 quality starts while walking just 37 batters in 157 innings. That earned him a spot with the 2018 Rangers, and over the next two years, Jurado tossed 177 innings and won 12 games.
After a brief stop with the Mets and Twins organizations, Jurado signed with the Kiwoom Heroes prior to the 2023 season. In his two seasons in the KBO, Jurado has tossed over 180 innings and won at least ten games. He has been particularly efficient in the 2024 campaign, leading the league with 23 quality starts while allowing just 31 walks. Though the Heroes have not had the season they hoped for, they can still take pride in having one of the KBO’s best starters.
Enmanuel De Jesus, LHP, Kiwoom Heroes (MLB experience: Miami Marlins, 2023)
A left-hander with a fastball touching the mid-90s, De Jesus has always flashed true swing-and-miss potential. Pitching for the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats in 2022, De Jesus struck out 118 batters in just 101 innings, a performance that earned him a cup of coffee with the Miami Marlins the following season. De Jesus, however, struggled to get his walk rate under control, leading to the Marlins outrighting him from the 40-man roster after the season.
After signing with the Kiwoom Heroes last December, De Jesus has markedly improved his walk rate while maintaining his excellent swing-and-miss numbers. The lefty is walking a career-low 2.3 batters per nine innings and leads the KBO with 173 strikeouts. Still just 26 years old, it appears that De Jesus has leveled up as he enters the prime of his career.
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WBN KBO: https://worldbaseball.com/league/south-korea/
Photo Credit: Socrates Brito #19 of the Arizona Diamondbacks stands in the dugout before the game against the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum on May 27, 2018 in Oakland, California. The Oakland Athletics defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-1. (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images)
