Despite the deadened ball, he still had a .958 OPS and nearly half his hits went for extra bases. Yoon has a 3.05 ERA on the year, but he has been the losing pitcher in each of his last two games. Most Similar MLB Team: San Francisco Giants. Lee Jung-lee (left) and Kang Baek-ho (right) With Kim Ha-seong 's latest success as the Padres SS, KBO's best young stars could join him stateside soon as well. The Eagles attempted 156 stolen bases in 2019 second in the KBO although their success rate was just 67%, second-lowest in the KBO. Take Merrill Kelly for example, whos serving as the de facto ace for the rebuilding Diamondbacks. Best Pitcher: Casey Kelly or Tyler Wilson. The Kiwoom Heroes share their home base of Seoul with the Doosan Bears and the LG Twins. Choi Hyeong-Woo, while having a drop in his numbers, still managed a .300/.412/.485 slash line, with 17 home runs, 86 RBI, and about 4.5 WAR. On the pitching side of things, the Wyverns lost a few key pieces during the offseason. The good news: that once was quite recent. It also has new rules coming into place as early as next year that will increase the similarities with MLB. Lively could certainly end up being the best pitcher for the Lions, and the entire league this season, and could make a return to the majors at some point. That made the Lotte Giants a perfect fit for my familiarity with thinking and writing about struggling teams. He features a deep . In fact, if we just look at his rookie KBO season, he had one of the lowest strikeout rates among qualified starters. Entering his age-38 season and the final year of his contract, this could be the end for the veteran. Shortly after graduating high school, he debuted at the age of 18 with the KT Wiz, hitting 29 home runs en route to Rookie of the Year honors. PLUTKO Adam (LG) 2.39 4. By coming in first, the Bears secured a spot in the leagues final series called the Korean Series The Wyverns second-place finish allowed them to skip to what can be referred to as a semi-final called the Playoff Series. The bashing Dinos had their KBO-best 15th multihomer game Sunday; they are 15-0 in those affairs. Ruf then made the move abroad to Korea in 2017 and played there for three seasons with a career KBO .313/.404/.564 slash line. Regardless, he was a top-20 pitcher by WAR, despite pitching significantly fewer innings than all pitchers above him. Recently, theyve traded power for speed and aggression on the base paths. Finally, the Hanwha Eagles, who continued their decades-long slump in 2020, only re-signed pitcher Nick Kingham. The best case scenario is a no. I did notice that the quality of his strikes improved, but it isnt measurable using publicly available data on Korean baseball. MLB fans will recognize Despaignes unique name, but he left behind forgettable performances on the hill outside of a strong rookie campaign in San Diego. I will be in Seoul for the weekend where the Giants vs Bears. All three are fantastic mascots and the moment I can figure out how to buy a shirt with DomDoml on it, I will have like 15 of them. Their best option in that case may come from the aforementioned Ja-wook Koo, who is going into his age-27 season, and has been an offensive anchor for the team prior to 2019. for the latter part of his career. Baek-ho Kang emerged in the 2018 season, at age 18, winning the KBO Rookie of the Year as a left fielder; all he did to win it was hit .290/.356/.524 with a KBO rookie-record 29 homers. But with the Twins, hes been solid, slashing .304/.375/.437 with 11 home runs, 75 runs, and 82 RBI last year, essentially being what he was supposed to be in the MLB, a solid-average, good on-base, medium power guy. Anderson was able to make it work last season with a 3.89 ERA, and Jung-hyun Baek was likewise able to make it work last season. At 22 years old, with four KBO seasons under his belt, Go is a player to watch down the road as a possible MLB bullpen arm. Weather data provided by Weather. and play-by-play data provided by Sports Info Solutions. Which, fine, I understand. Likely not, as his days of 20+ HR seasons are in the past. But for every Kelly or Flexen, theres someone like Josh Lindblom, who signed with the Brewers after two great seasons with the Doosan Bears. Lively is a pitcher who can certainly thrive in the KBO, as his good strikeout rates from his minor-league career did translate well to the KBO, with a 9.2 K/9 rate in his brief sample for the Lions. ESPN Cho has seven years in the KBO already, so he could be posted as soon as next off-season, but I doubt the market would favor a reliever with a 30-day negotiation window as dictated by the posting system. The best players on both the San Francisco and Lotte Giants seem to be veterans mixed with some younger fringe players with some promise. The Snakes simply havent had the sustained success that the Wyverns have. by Handedness, The As Signed the KBOs Best Starting Pitcher, JAWS and the 2023 Hall of Fame Ballot: Omar Vizquel, Reds Awaken with Trio of Pre-Christmas Transactions. Best Hitter: Ahn Chi-hong If the Giants can load a solid defense behind him, he could end up being their best pitcher. If you get more thrills rooting for the underdog as opposed to the perennial favorites, than the Hanwha Eagles are for you. The belief is that his work in his former role as the leader of the teams data analysis should give him a good understanding of the teams players and put them in a position to succeed, which shouldnt be a foreign concept to fans of Major League Baseball. At 26 years old, Cho has time to build up his stock, and hopefully regain some of his velocity along the way. 2022 KBO Player Stats. Their team FIP was better than three other teams, and with the additions of Adrian Sampson and Dan Straily, they could move further up the leaderboard. Best KBO Picks Today Our experts preview all of the top KBO action, with full game analysis, stats, and betting trends included, we leave no stone unturned in our research. With a strong defense behind him (and Jokisch himself is no slouch, winning the Fielding Bible Award at pitcher), he was able to win the ERA title at 2.14. You neednt look further than his 6.04 K/9 in 2019 to know he goes about his business in a different manner than pitchers like Koo. Drew Rucinski will be getting the ball on Opening Day, and thats because he was one of the best pitchers in the KBO last year. Like Grove, he didn't reach the majors until the age of 25, but he pitched into his 40s; sort of an early version of Warren Spahn. The soft-throwing lefty averages 89 on his fastball, and mixes in a knuckle-curve with late break, changeup and a slider that he can manipulate to add velocity and work as a cutter inside to righties. Theres some concern under the surface in his 4.43 FIP and .257 BABIP, but he should still be able to return as an innings-eater for KT. 4, maybe a no. Callis: Julio Rodriguez, OF, Mariners (2021 age: 20) Yang Hyun-jong (Kia Tigers): The former first overall pick and 2017 Korean Series MVP has had a long and fairly successful KBO career (14 seasons despite being only 32!) Unfortunately for Doosan, Lindblom signed a three-year deal with the Milwaukee Brewers in December, dealing a massive blow to the Bears 2020 rotation. Updated: Thursday, March 2, 2023 3:23 AM ET, Park Factors The Twins share a stadium with the Doosan Bears who are one of the most dominant franchises in the KBO. Best Pitcher: Yang Hyeon-jong Progressive front offices, similar colors, and oh, Thames has played for them both! Last years KBO HR leader, Byung-Ho Park knocked 33 out; can Baek-ho Kang turn in a Yelich like season, keeping his .330 average but complementing it with league-leading pop? NPB is starting up the earliest, on March 26, while the KBO is starting their season about a week later, on April 3. He threw 125 innings for the Rangers in 2019, and it did not go well by MLB standards. Theres nothing quite like it. Both leagues will also be taking a break from mid-June through early August to allow players to represent their countries in the Olympics, which should result in both Japan and South Korea fielding competitive teams in the event. The surface stats from 2020 dont do Go justice, as his ERA climbed from 1.52 in 2019 to 4.10 last year. 1 0. Over 177.1 innings, Rucinski posted a 3.05 ERA and 3.6 WAR (good for 12th in the KBO) with an approach that hinges on a pitch-to-contact approach that is popular in the KBO. In 2019, their best pitcher was most likely Gwang hyun-Kim. And for good reason! The Eagles have seen some peaks and valleys in the past decade or so. Even if he does, the upside isnt much; you dont show interest in a KBO pitcher in hopes of adding an ace. If a postseason game ends in an official tie, it essentially does not count, and is replayed in full. The most recent winner is Lee Jung-hoo of the Kiwoom Heroes . They have fun young players like Eun-won Jung and Jin-hyuk Chang as well as veterans like Tae-kyun Kim and Woo-ram Chung. Hailing originally out Winter Garden, Florida, Brigham was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the sixth round of the 2006 MLB draft. Its hard to determine who the best pitcher is in on the Twins, but its one of these two. But in the KBO, Kelly has been good, pitching to a 2.55 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP over 180.1 innings last year; that ERA was good for the fourth-best in the KBO. In that same time span, the teams have also won half of the championships theyve appeared in, with the Cards winning two of four and the Wyverns winning four of eight. Theres been a lot of drama, too, involving a top free agent, a medical issue, and boatloads of cash. For many years, Korean baseball existed only as amateur teams and informal leagues, often playing against teams in the more reputable Japanese baseball scene. Much of the new responsibility will fall on the next two rotation arms for the Bears: the reliable 33-year-old southpaw Hee Kwan Yoo who finished with 3.25 ERA on the season, good for tenth-best in the league despite only an 11-8 record, and 21-year-old Young Ha Lee, who finished with a 3.64 ERA and a considerably higher strikeout (and walk) count than Yoo on his way to a 17-4 record. largest in the world with over 9.7 million people) and is the capital city of South Korea. Jeong and Romak led the team with 29 home runs apiece, fairly impressive given the fact that power seems to be down across the league due to changes made to the ball. Both spent part of 2019 with the Baltimore Orioles (and both struggled), and they have similar pitch mixes as well, with a fastball, slider, changeup and a little-used curveball to round out the repertoire. The biggest change, however, was in 2019, when the KBO de-juiced its baseball to decrease the coefficient of restitution (COR) to a level closer to that of the Japanese NPB. An influx of MLB talent, which well cover below, pushed the team to 59 wins in 2018, good for a 9th place finish, followed by a bump up to a sixth-place 71 wins in 2019. They had the lowest weighted on-base average (wOBA) in the KBO. In his first three appearances following the injury he gave up 6 runs (4 earned) in just 1 1/3 innings and allowed a run in 5 of his first 7 appearances off the injured list. 3 starter. Jeon Jun-woo was a sensation for the Giants the previous year, when he recorded 33 homers, a .992 OPS, and 5.9 WAR. Despite the low strikeout totals, Jokisch did receive interest from MLB teams over the offseason before resigning with Kiwoom. With a strong defense behind him (and Jokisch himself is no slouch, winning the Fielding Bible Award at pitcher), he was able to win the ERA title at 2.14. The team should be more interesting than in years past as they start to filter in younger players that fans can hopefully see develop in front of their own eyes. In the playoffs, games have a 15-inning limit. Since teams dont use foreign players to shore up their bullpens, homegrown pitching becomes important to be able to close out games. The NC Dinos, founded in 2011, were originally members of the Freedom Division of the Korea Baseball Futures League, which serves as a non-affiliated farm system for Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). While Tae-kyun Kim may no longer be the ideal lead-off hitter due to his lack of speed, hes a great bat for the two spot. The team hopes for big steps forward from 21-year-old Min Kim and 23-year-old. All seven of the top pitchers over the past three seasons were at least 6-foot-3, with only two of the top 14 (6-foot-2 Aaron Nola and 6-foot-1 Trevor Bauer) shorter than that. In most categories, however, they finished at the top (or very near it! a reputation as an analytic-friendly team. 9. and play-by-play data provided by Sports Info Solutions. After two years away from the game, Jae-Hoon Ha returned and signed with the Wyverns, this time taking the mound and role of closer. In 2012, he went to play in the JPL (Japanese Pacific League) where he won two championships while posting solid numbers. While still higher than the MLB COR, the change had the desired effect of dampening power numbers across the board in the KBO. The Aussie righty debuted for the Eagles last year with a 3.51 ERA, a 3.49 FIP and a 6.30 K/9 (remember, the league average ERA was 4.17 and K/9 was 7.3). At the end of the regular season, the top five teams qualify for the playoffs. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers. Last year, Wilson posted a 2.92 ERA and 1.16 WHIP over 185 innings, and similar to Kelly, he had one of the best ERAs in the league at sixth. The KIA Tigers arrived in Terry Park in Fort Myers, Florida, for spring training. Upon my first look at the park, it reminded me a little bit of a smaller version of Dodger Stadium. ), including in WHIP, ER allowed, QS, and opponent AVG. With two years until he becomes eligible to be posted and age on his side (he is only 24 years old), he has time to prove that he can do just that. The owners of the team also own KT Rolster, one of the worlds top Starcraft e-sports teams. Much like the Redbirds, the Wyverns have been incredibly successful over the past two decades. There are bat flips. Baseball was first spread to the Korean Peninsula by Western missionaries as early as the late 19th century. . He signed with the Mariners in 2016, and despite relative success in the big leagues, he returned to the KBO, signing a four-year, $12.9M contract with his hometown Giants. The LG Twins have been around since 1982 and have two Korean Series championships to their name, one in 1990 and one in 1994. With Spring Training underway, baseball fans can look forward to enjoying more baseball in 2021 than we had in 2020. Hands down. Also on the roster is former major leaguer Ben Lively, who joined the Lions for 57 innings in 2019, and will return for the 2020 season. Won the first ever Korean baseball league championship. C. 1B. Naver As an original team when the KBO League was founded in 1982, the Tigers had been in the playoffs in 10 of the 14 years, winning the championship seven times at that time. Will he hit? The injured list (10- , 15- , or 30-day limits) will be introduced to the KBO in 2020. The Tigers, despite their success, were a team that often financially struggled. 2B. 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