WBN’s International Player of the Week is NC Dinos first baseman Matt Davidson in the Korea Baseball Organization. Davidson hit his 40th home run of the season against the Kiwoom Heros on September 3 against Ariel Jurado at NC Park in Changwon, South Korea.
Davidson went 3-for-5 with three RBI in an 11-5 win against the Kiwoom Heros. Davidson hit his league-leading 41st home run of the season on September 4 vs. Kiwoom Heros starting pitcher Enmanuel De Jesus. Davidson, 33, is making a huge impact in his first KBO season and has a six-home run lead on Kia Tigers third baseman Kim Do-yeong.
The KBO hitting leaderboards are filled with Davidson, who is second with 108 RBI and third with an OPS of .982. Davidson’s stats this season are 41 home runs, 108 RBI, and a slash line of .295/.363/.619 in 441 at-bats.
Davidson is one of several former MLB players in the KBO. The Arizona Diamondbacks drafted him in the first round of the 2009 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut with the Diamondbacks in 2013 and hit three home runs in 76 at-bats. Davidson was traded to the Chicago White Sox on December 16, 2013.
The White Sox called Davidson up to the MLB in 2016, but he only played one game because he fractured his foot. In 2017, he hit an MLB career-high 26 home runs and 68 RBI in 414 at-bats. He followed up 2017 with 20 home runs and a career-high OPS of .738 in 2018. His best MLB game was a three-home run performance against the Kansas City Royals on Opening Day of 2018.
In 2019, he signed a MiLB deal with the Texas Rangers but didn’t make it to their MLB roster. Davidson signed a minor league deal with the Cincinnati Reds before the 2020 season. He played only 23 games in the shortened season but hit three home runs.
Davidson signed MiLB deals with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Diamondbacks before the 2021 and 2022 seasons, respectively. He saw his last MLB action with the Oakland Athletics in 2022 and hit one home run in eight games.
His MLB career numbers are 54 home runs, 157 RBI, and a slash line of .220/.290/.430.
He went to Japan in 2023 and signed with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in Nippon Professional Baseball. He hit 19 home runs and 44 RBI with a slash line of .210/.273/.425 in 348 at-bats.
Davidson signed a one-year deal with the NC Dinos before this season.
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WBN KBO: https://worldbaseball.com/league/south-korea/
Photo Credit: Matt Davidson #4 of the Oakland Athletics looks on during the fourth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on June 9, 2022 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images)
