2019 KBO League season

Last updated
2019 KBO League
2019 KBO League.svg
League KBO League
Sport Baseball
DurationMarch 23 – October 1
Number of games144 per team
Number of teams10
Total attendance7,286,008
Regular Season
Season champions Doosan Bears
Season MVP Josh Lindblom (Doosan)
Postseason
Wild Card champions LG Twins
  Wild Card runners-up NC Dinos
Semi-playoffs champions Kiwoom Heroes
  Semi-playoffs runners-up LG Twins
Playoffs champions Kiwoom Heroes
  Playoffs runners-up SK Wyverns
Korean Series
Champions Doosan Bears
  Runners-up Kiwoom Heroes
Finals MVP Oh Jae-il (Doosan)
KBO League seasons

The 2019 KBO League season was the 38th season in the history of the KBO League. The regular season began on March 23 and ended on October 1. [1] The All-Star break was extended from four days to seven. [2]

Contents

Standings

RankTeamP W L D Pct. GB Postseason
1 Doosan Bears 14488551.615Korean Series
2 SK Wyverns 14488551.6150.0Playoff
3 Kiwoom Heroes 14486571.6012.0Semi-playoff
4 LG Twins 14479641.5529.0Wild Card
5 NC Dinos 14473692.51414.5
6 kt Wiz 14471712.50016.5Did not qualify
7 KIA Tigers 14462802.43725.5
8 Samsung Lions 14460831.42028.0
9 Hanwha Eagles 14458860.40330.5
10 Lotte Giants 14448933.34039.0

Doosan Bears ranked ahead of SK Wyverns due to winning their head-to-head season series 9-7. [3]

League Leaders

Foreign players

Each team could sign up to three foreign players, one of whom must be a hitter. In 2019, the KBO League capped salaries for new foreign players at US$1 million. [6]

TeamPlayerPositionIn KBO SinceSalary
Samsung Lions Justin Haley Pitcher 2019$900,000
Deck McGuire Pitcher 2019$950,000
Darin Ruf Infielder 2017$1,700,000
NC Dinos Eddie Butler Pitcher 2019$1,000,000
Drew Rucinski Pitcher 2019$1,000,000
Christian Bethancourt Catcher 2019$1,000,000
Jake Smolinski Outfielder 2019TK
Doosan Bears Seth Frankoff Pitcher 2018$1,230,000
Josh Lindblom Pitcher 2015$1,920,000
José Miguel Fernández Infielder 2019$700,000
Kiwoom Heroes Jake Brigham Pitcher 2017$900,000
Eric Jokisch Pitcher 2019$500,000
Jerry Sands Outfielder 2018$500,000
SK Wyverns Brock Dykxhoorn Pitcher 2019$700,000
Jamie Romak Outfielder 2017$1,300,000
Ángel Sánchez Pitcher 2018$1,200,000
Hanwha Eagles Chad Bell Pitcher 2019$600,000
Jared Hoying Outfielder 2018$1,400,000
Warwick Saupold Pitcher 2019$1,000,000
Kia Tigers Jeremy Hazelbaker Outfielder 2019$700,000
Preston Tucker Outfielder 2019$270,000
Jacob Turner Pitcher 2019$1,000,000
Joe Wieland Pitcher 2019$1,000,000
Lotte Giants Carlos Asuaje Infielder 2019$550,000
Jacob Wilson Infielder 2019$400,000
Brooks Raley Pitcher 2015$1,170,000
Jake Thompson Pitcher 2019$900,000
LG Twins Casey Kelly Pitcher 2019$1,000,000
Tommy Joseph Infielder 2019$1,000,000
Tyler Wilson Pitcher 2018$1,500,000
KT Wiz Raúl Alcántara Pitcher 2019$670,000
William Cuevas Pitcher 2019$650,000
Mel Rojas Jr. Outfielder 2017$1,600,000

Foreign hitters

TeamPlayerBatting
Average
Home RunsRBINotes
Doosan Bears José Miguel Fernández .3441588KBO hits leader; Golden Glove Award
Hanwha Eagles Jared Hoying .2841873
Kia Tigers Jeremy Hazelbaker .14625Released by the team
Preston Tucker .311950Signed to replace Jeremy Hazelbaker
KT Wiz Mel Rojas Jr. .32224104Golden Glove Award
LG Twins Tommy Joseph .274936
Lotte Giants Carlos Asuaje .252221Released by the team
Jacob Wilson .251937Signed to replace Carlos Asuaje
NC Dinos Christian Bethancourt .246829Released by the team
Jake Smolinski .229942Signed to replace Christian Bethancourt
Nexen Heroes Jerry Sands .30528113KBO RBI leader; Golden Glove Award
Samsung Lions Darin Ruf .29122101
SK Wyverns Jamie Romak .2762995

Postseason

Wild CardSemi-playoffPlayoff Korean Series
1 Doosan Bears 4
2 SK Wyverns 03 Kiwoom Heroes 0
3 Kiwoom Heroes 33 Kiwoom Heroes 3
4 LG Twins 24 LG Twins 1
5 NC Dinos 0

Wild Card

The series started with a 1–0 advantage for the fourth-placed team.

LG Twins (2) vs. NC Dinos (0)

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1October 3NC Dinos – 1, LG Twins – 3 Jamsil Baseball Stadium 3:0023,757

Semi-playoff

Kiwoom Heroes (3) vs. LG Twins (1)

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1October 6LG Twins – 0, Kiwoom Heroes1 Gocheok Sky Dome 2:4916,300 
2October 7LG Twins – 4, Kiwoom Heroes5 (10 inn.)Gocheok Sky Dome-14,589 
3October 9Kiwoom Heroes – 2, LG Twins4Jamsil Baseball Stadium-25,000 
4October 10Kiwoom Heroes10, LG Twins – 5Jamsil Baseball Stadium-21,600

Playoff

SK Wyverns (0) vs. Kiwoom Heroes (3)

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1October 14Kiwoom Heroes – 3, SK Wyverns – 0 (11 inn.) Munhak Baseball Stadium -19,356 
2October 15Kiwoom Heroes – 8, SK Wyverns – 7Munhak Baseball Stadium-17,546 
3October 17SK Wyverns – 1, Kiwoom Heroes – 10Gocheok Sky Dome-14,051

Korean Series

Doosan Bears (4) vs. Kiwoom Heroes (0)

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1October 22Kiwoom Heroes – 6, Doosan Bears – 7Jamsil Baseball Stadium-25,000 
2October 23Kiwoom Heroes – 5, Doosan Bears – 6Jamsil Baseball Stadium-25,000 
3October 25Doosan Bears – 5, Kiwoom Heroes – 0Gocheok Sky Dome-16,300 
4October 26Doosan Bears – 11, Kiwoom Heroes – 9Gocheok Sky Dome--

Attendances

TeamTotal attendanceHome averageChange vs. 2018
LG Twins1,000,40013,894-10%
Doosan Bears983,47413,659-12%
SK Wyverns982,96213,652-5%
NC Dinos710,2749,865+60%
KIA Tigers692,1639,613-20%
Samsung Lions691,6819,607-8%
Lotte Giants679,2089,33-25%
Hanwha Eagles555,2257,711-24%
KT Wiz536,7357,455-20%
Kiwoom Heroes453,8866,304-0%
Total7,286,00810,119-10%

See also

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References

  1. "2019 KBO season opener on March 23 will be earliest ever-INSIDE Korea JoongAng Daily". Korea JoongAng Daily. 2018-11-29. Retrieved 2019-02-16.
  2. 유, 지호 (2018-05-16). "Baseball league extends midseason break for 2019". Yonhap News Agency . Retrieved 2019-05-19.
  3. "KBO". KBO.
  4. "Batting Leaders". KBO.
  5. "Pitching Leaders". KBO.
  6. "KBO's final foreign player signed-INSIDE Korea JoongAng Daily". Korea JoongAng Daily. 2018-12-29. Retrieved 2019-02-16.