KBO slugger wishes fans were around to watch his 1st-place club

CHANGWON -- Having played more than 20 regular games before thousands of empty seats during the coronavirus pandemic, NC Dinos' designated hitter Na Sung-bum has grown accustomed to playing without fans. That does not mean Na does not miss them. With the Dinos having jumped out to the best record in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) at 19-6, Na feels fans in Changwon, 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul, are missing out. "It'd be great if fans were here to watch us win games," Na

June 4, 2020

S. Korean baseball's minor league to adopt 'robot umpires' in Aug.

South Korean baseball's minor league will start using "robot umpires" in August, a league official said Thursday. The official with the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said about 20 games in the Futures League will have the automated ball-strike system in place this season, and it will be used for the entire 2021 season. The KBO's top league may follow suit as early as 2022. Though the system is colloquially called the robot umpire, it doesn't involve any robots standing behind t

June 4, 2020

Secret to success for KBO ace: empty mind

CHANGWON -- At the tender age of 23, NC Dinos' starter Koo Chang-mo may already have become the ultimate Zen master in South Korean baseball. He has figured out how to pitch with an empty mind, a state where he is clear of unnecessary thoughts and his focus is solely on his target. "When I am on the mound, I am not thinking of anything else but trying to hit the catcher's mitt," Koo told reporters Wednesday prior to a Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular season game versus the

June 4, 2020

KBO ace by the numbers: statistical breakdown of Dinos starter Koo Chang-mo's memorable May

For baseball pitchers, throwing strikes is much easier said than done. If they could all do it at will, baseball would be a much simpler game for them. It's only the elite few that can do it at a rate that makes them successful. In the 2020 Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season, the NC Dinos' Koo Chang-mo, the best starter after the first month by many measures, also leads the league in first pitch strike percentage. Koo tops all qualified pitchers with a first pitch strike rate of 76.4 pe

June 2, 2020

2 starting pitchers, 2 hitters nominated for KBO's top player award for May

Two aces and two hitters will contend for South Korean baseball's top player honor for the month of May. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) unveiled four candidates for the Player of the Month award Tuesday. They are NC Dinos' starter Koo Chang-mo, Kiwoom Heroes' starter Eric Jokisch, LG Twins' first baseman Roberto Ramos and Doosan Bears' designated hitter Jose Miguel Fernandez. Koo and Jokisch are tied for the league lead at four wins apiece. Koo is the sole leader in other Triple Crown

June 2, 2020

KBO's Doosan Bears happy for traded catcher's early success

Rare is a South Korean baseball team that feels genuinely happy for a player it has just traded away. But the Doosan Bears may prove to be an exception, after dealing their third-string catcher Lee Heung-ryun to the SK Wyverns last Friday. Trades aren't that common in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), with teams reluctant to make deals out of fears that players would often come back to haunt them in the small, 10-team league. Even the deals that are made don't move the needle much. The

June 1, 2020

KBO rookie pitcher eyes championship, long career

The Samsung Lions' rookie left-hander Heo Yun-dong readily admits he got lucky in his first professional start last week. Still just 18, the first-year hurler out of high school faced the Lotte Giants in his Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) debut Thursday, filling in for injured starter Ben Lively. Heo promptly hit the first batter he faced, and two batters later, issued a walk to put two aboard for the dangerous slugger Lee Dae-ho. Lee turned on a 0-1 pitch and sent it soaring over the left

June 1, 2020

One month in, NC Dinos lead KBO behind young pitcher's breakout campaign

There are many different ways to measure the excellence of a baseball team. And sitting atop the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) standings after the first month of the season, the NC Dinos check off many boxes. Offense? They lead the league with 152 runs scored, a .370 on-base percentage and a .482 slugging percentage. Long balls? They have gone deep 35 times, more than any other club. Pitching? Their staff has the league-low 3.73 ERA, and they have given up fewer runs than anyone with 92. W

June 1, 2020

KBO manager wary of opposing lineup's explosive potential

The Lotte Giants have scored a grand total of five runs in their past four games in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) heading into their weekend series against the Doosan Bears starting Friday. But when the Bears' manager Kim Tae-hyoung looks across the diamond and into the opposing dugout, he sees a lineup that can go off at any moment. "Every team has its ups and downs, and the Giants' lineup can be really explosive," Kim said in his pregame media availability at Jamsil Stadiu

May 29, 2020

Struggling slugger shows signs of life in victory

SK Wyverns' slugger Choi Jeong had hit that proverbial rock bottom. He had the worst batting average among 61 qualified batters in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) with .153 before Thursday's game against the Doosan Bears. The only way for him to go was up. Choi went 2-for-5 with two doubles and three RBIs Thursday, helping the Wyverns to a 6-1 victory at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul. Well, Choi is still the worst qualified hitter in the league, but at least his batting average went up to .17

May 29, 2020

Wyverns beat Bears to avoid KBO series sweep

The SK Wyverns defeated the Doosan Bears 6-1 to avoid getting swept in their Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular season series on Thursday. In his first career start, SK right-hander Lee Geun-wook tossed 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball, while slumping slugger Choi Jeong broke through with two doubles and three RBIs. The Wyverns remain in last place in the 10-team KBO with a 4-16 mark. The Bears fell to 12-8.   SK's No. 8 hitter Lee Hong-ku put his team on the board first with

May 28, 2020

Ex-MLB player Kang Jung-ho expresses desire to rejoin KBO's Heroes

Former major league player Kang Jung-ho told his ex-Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) club Kiwoom Heroes on Thursday that he'd like to rejoin the team once his one-year suspension, stemming from past drunk driving cases, ends in 2021. The Heroes said Kang reached out to their general manager Kim Chi-hyun earlier Thursday and expressed his desire to be reunited with the club. Kang is currently staying in the United States. Kang, who left the Heroes via posting to sign with the Pittsburgh Pirat

May 28, 2020

Defensive outfielder brimming with confidence in batter's box

SUWON -- KT Wiz's outfielder Bae Jung-dae has been regarded as a glove-first player in his Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) career. But this year, his fifth as a pro, Bae is making some noise with his bat. After extending his hitting streak to 12 games in Wednesday's game against the Kia Tigers, Bae said he's stepping up to the plate with much more confidence than before. "I tell myself, 'I am the best,' as I step into the batter's box," Bae said after going 3-for-4 with two double

May 28, 2020

Offense drying up for KBO's Lotte Giants

While other clubs in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) display batting averages for their hitters on the scoreboard, the Lotte Giants have begun putting up on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) this season. As a sum of a player's on-base percentage and slugging percentage, OPS is a measure of two critical offensive skills: an ability to get on base and to hit for power. The Giants' decision to highlight that statistic represents a new direction for the club, whose revamped front office ha

May 28, 2020

Hanwha Eagles' ace 'very pleased' with KBO season debut following injury layoff

Hanwha Eagles' ace Chad Bell had been itching to get it going, feeling frustrated that his arm issue had kept him on the sidelines at the start of the new Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season earlier this month. Bell finally returned to action Tuesday after recovering from what the club said was strained left elbow. He got a no-decision after 3 1/3 shutout innings in the Eagles' 3-0 loss at home in Daejeon, 160 kilometers south of Seoul. Results aside, Bell said he was "very, very pl

May 27, 2020

With umpires under microscope, KBO's new promotion-relegation system in spotlight

With more international eyeballs on the league than ever before, umpires in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) are operating under the microscope to an unprecedented degree. And the situation has put a previously little-known, umpire promotion-relegation system in the spotlight. The KBO introduced that promotion-relegation system in July last year, and it was to take effect with the 2020 season. The league will evaluate umpires' performances at the end of each season, based on consistency

May 26, 2020

Ex-big leaguer Kang Jung-ho pledges to donate KBO salary to charity: source

In a bid to atone for his checkered past, former major leaguer Kang Jung-ho has promised to donate his salary to charities should he sign with a South Korean ball club. A source close to Kang told Yonhap News Agency on Tuesday that Kang, a former Pittsburgh Pirates infielder, made that pledge in a letter he submitted to the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) the previous day. With his big league career essentially over following his third drunk driving accident in December 2016, Kang, 33, is e

May 26, 2020

Last-place SK Wyverns lose top slugger to injury

Things have gone from bad to worse for the last-place club in South Korean baseball this season. The SK Wyverns said Tuesday their leading slugger Han Dong-min will be out six to eight weeks with a broken right tibia. Their starting second baseman Kim Chang-pyeong is also out with left shoulder issues. Han, who is leading the Wyverns with six homers, good for second overall in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), fouled a pitch off his right leg during Sunday's game against the Kia Tigers.

May 26, 2020

New slugger thriving at KBO's biggest ballpark

For the 2009 and 2010 seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), the LG Twins were so desperate for home runs that they installed a temporary, drawn-in fence for their home games at the cavernous Jamsil Stadium. The Seoul ballpark, shared by the Twins and the Doosan Bears, is the largest stadium in the league: it is 125 meters from home plate to center field, and 100 meters down the line to both left and right. The Twins set up the fence 4 meters closer to home plate at the center. It w

May 26, 2020

KBO bans ex-major leaguer Kang Jung-ho for 1 year before potential return

Former major league infielder Kang Jung-ho, seeking a return to the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) under the cloud of multiple drunk driving cases, received a one-year suspension from the South Korean league on Monday. During its disciplinary committee meeting, the KBO also ordered Kang to do 300 hours of community service. The lighter-than-expected penalties will keep the door open for Kang, 33, to return to the league where he began his professional career in 2006.   Kang filed for r

May 25, 2020