It's fun to spot foreign phenoms early on. Recently-posted KBO 2nd baseman Hyseseong Kim is in the news right now, but I just stumbled upon another star KBO Kim while surfing BR: Do-yeong Kim, Kia Tigers' third baseman.
This year, Do-yeong won the KBO MVP award as he hit .347 with 38 homers, 40 stolen bases, and a league-record 143 runs scored. He was the first Korean to have 30 homers and 30 stolen bases since Jong-beom Lee did 27 years ago. And he was just 20 years old.
Kim already has three full years in the KBO under his belt - I wonder when we'll see him here.
Other KBO notes:
The Kia Tigers finished first in the regular season, with a 87-55 record, and won the Korean Series by beating the Samsung Lions 4-1.
The Kia Tigers had fifteen players named Kim appear in a game this year.
Socrates Brito, who hit .179 for the D-Backs and Blue Jays, hit .310/26/97 for Kia.
40-year-old Hyung-woo Choi hit .280/22/109 in 116 games for Kia - he has 395 career home runs. (He only became a regular at 24, in 2008.) His best season was 2016, when he hit .376/31/144 with 46 doubles for the Samsung Lions. He is listed as 5'10", 233 lb. He holds the KBO record for most career RBIs.
Seungwan Oh, who had a 1.92 ERA, 19 saves, and 103 strikeouts for the Cardinals in 2016, is now 41. He had a 4.91 ERA and 27 saves for the Samsung Lions. He has now saved 427 games in the KBO and 549 overall.
Connor Seabold, who has a career record of 1-11 with a 8.12 ERA in the majors, was 11-6 with a 3.43 ERA for Samsung.
This year, Do-yeong won the KBO MVP award as he hit .347 with 38 homers, 40 stolen bases, and a league-record 143 runs scored. He was the first Korean to have 30 homers and 30 stolen bases since Jong-beom Lee did 27 years ago. And he was just 20 years old.
Kim already has three full years in the KBO under his belt - I wonder when we'll see him here.
Other KBO notes:
The Kia Tigers finished first in the regular season, with a 87-55 record, and won the Korean Series by beating the Samsung Lions 4-1.
The Kia Tigers had fifteen players named Kim appear in a game this year.
Socrates Brito, who hit .179 for the D-Backs and Blue Jays, hit .310/26/97 for Kia.
40-year-old Hyung-woo Choi hit .280/22/109 in 116 games for Kia - he has 395 career home runs. (He only became a regular at 24, in 2008.) His best season was 2016, when he hit .376/31/144 with 46 doubles for the Samsung Lions. He is listed as 5'10", 233 lb. He holds the KBO record for most career RBIs.
Seungwan Oh, who had a 1.92 ERA, 19 saves, and 103 strikeouts for the Cardinals in 2016, is now 41. He had a 4.91 ERA and 27 saves for the Samsung Lions. He has now saved 427 games in the KBO and 549 overall.
Connor Seabold, who has a career record of 1-11 with a 8.12 ERA in the majors, was 11-6 with a 3.43 ERA for Samsung.
Hyun-jin Ryu, who was 3-3 with a 3.46 ERA in the majors last year, was just 10-8 with a 3.87 ERA for the Hanwha Eagles. He gave up Do-yeong Kim's 20th home run.
I'd like to do a deeper dive into the KBO but I really don't have time right now; maybe some other time.
Nice post! I was kind of puzzled after I drafted Ryu in fantasy this year and couldn't find him in the player list, and had to settle for someone else. Maybe I can make it up by getting Do-yeong Kim when the time comes.
ReplyDeletehttps://thecooperstownadvocate.blogspot.com/2024/11/2025-hall-of-fame-ballot.html