World Baseball Network’s International Player of the Week is KT Wiz’s designated hitter Baek-ho Kang in the Korean Baseball Organization.
Baek-ho Kang has helped lead the KT Wiz to an improbable playoff run as the fifth and final seed in the KBO Playoffs. He has hits in five of his six playoff games, including three multi-hits. Kang, 25, is a seven-year veteran and was drafted by the KT Wiz with the first pick in the 2018 KBO Draft.
The left-handed hitter has a solid season with 26 home runs, 96 RBI, six stolen bases, and a slash line of .289/.360/.480 in 550 at-bats. He also caught 30 games and played five in right field for the KT Wiz this season.
His career numbers in the KBO are 121 home runs, 504 RBI, 38 stolen bases, and a slash line of .307/.388/.494 in 3,006 at-bats.
Kang is no stranger to playoff success, helping lead the KT Wiz to a championship in 2021 with a sweep of the Doosan Bears.
In the KBO Playoffs this season, he is 10-for-25 (.400 batting average) with one home run and four RBI in six games.
They swept the Doosan Bears again in the Wild Card round 2-0 with a win on October 3 with a 1-0 win, and he made the difference with two hits and the lone RBI of the game. In game two of the series, the KT Wiz clinched with a 3-2 victory, and Kang was 2-for-4 with a run scored. Both games took place at James Baseball Stadium in Seoul, South Korea.
They are now facing the third seed, the LG Twins, in the Semi-Finals in a best-three-out-of-five-game series.
Kang once again helped guide the KT Wiz to victory with a solo home run in the fifth inning of a game four win, 6-5 extra-innings win to force a game five against the LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium on October 11 at 5:30 a.m EST.
He won the KBO Gold Glove at first base in 2020 and 2021. He is a three-time KBO All-Star from 2018-2020. He also won the KBO Rookie of the Year in 2018 and hit a career-high 29 home runs that season.
He has a decorated international career representing South Korea in the U-18 World Cup 2017, the WBSC Premier 12 in 2019, the 2022 Asian Games, and the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
He received the silver medal in the U-18 World Cup in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, and lost 8-0 to Team USA in the finals at Port Arthur Stadium. Kang also got a silver medal in the WBSC Premier 12 with a 5-3 loss to Team Japan in the Tokyo Dome. In the 2022 Asian Games, he finally broke through and won a gold medal in a 2-0 win against Chinese Taipei at Shaoxing Baseball and Softball Sports Center in Hangzhou, China.
In the 2023 WBC, South Korea went 2-2 in Pool B at the Tokyo Dome and were eliminated in pool play, but their third-place finish ensured they would qualify for the 2026 WBC. Kang had a great WBC with seven hits, a .500 batting average, and two RBI in five games. Kang’s most noteworthy moment was a double he hit against Team Japan right-handed pitcher Yu Darvish.
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WBN KBO: https://worldbaseball.com/league/south-korea/
Photo Credit: Baek-ho Kang #50 of Korea hits a RBI single to make it 0-2 in the first inning during the World Baseball Classic Pool B game between Czech Republic and Korea at Tokyo Dome on March 12, 2023 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Kenta Harada/Getty Images)
