List of Major League Baseball players from South Korea

Last updated

Location of South Korea (green) LocationSouthKorea.png
Location of South Korea (green)

This is an alphabetical list of baseball players from South Korea who have played in Major League Baseball since 1994. There have been 27 players in total from South Korea. [1]

Contents

Current players

PlayerDebutPositionTeamsRef
Ji-hwan Bae September 23, 2022
23 years, 59 days
Infielder Pittsburgh Pirates (2022–present) [2]
Ji-man Choi April 5, 2016
24 years, 322 days
Infielder Los Angeles Angels (2016)
New York Yankees (2017)
Milwaukee Brewers (2018)
Tampa Bay Rays (2018–2022)
Pittsburgh Pirates (2023)
San Diego Padres (2023)
[3]
Ha-seong Kim April 1, 2021
25 years, 166 days
Infielder San Diego Padres (2021–2024)
Tampa Bay Rays (2025-present)
[4] [5]
Jung-hoo Lee March 28, 2024
25 years, 221 days
Outfielder San Francisco Giants (2024–present)
Hoy-jun Park July 16, 2021
25 years, 100 days
Infielder New York Yankees (2021)
Pittsburgh Pirates (2021–2022)
[6]
Rob Refsnyder July 11, 2015
24 years, 107 days
Outfielder New York Yankees (2015–2017)
Toronto Blue Jays (2017)
Tampa Bay Rays (2018)
Texas Rangers (2020)
Minnesota Twins (2021)
Boston Red Sox (2022–present)
[7]

Former players

PlayerDebutFinal GameGamesPositionTeamsRef
Cha-seung Baek August 8, 2004
24 years, 71 days
September 28, 200861 Pitcher Seattle Mariners (2004, 2006–2008)
San Diego Padres (2008)
[8]
Jung-keun Bong April 23, 2002
21 years, 282 days
June 20, 200449Pitcher Atlanta Braves (2002–2003)
Cincinnati Reds (2004)
[9]
Jin-ho Cho July 4, 1998
22 years, 323 days
July 30, 199913Pitcher Boston Red Sox (1998–1999) [10]
Hee-seop Choi September 3, 2002
23 years, 171 days
October 2, 2005363 Infielder Chicago Cubs (2002–2003)
Florida Marlins (2004)
Los Angeles Dodgers (2004–2005)
[11]
Shin-soo Choo April 21, 2005
22 years, 282 days
September 27, 20201,652 Outfielder Seattle Mariners (2005–2006)
Cleveland Indians (2006–2012)
Cincinnati Reds (2013)
Texas Rangers (2014–2020)
[12]
Jae-gyun Hwang June 28, 2017
29 years, 335 days
August 1, 201718Infielder San Francisco Giants (2017) [13]
Jung-ho Kang April 8, 2015
28 years, 3 days
July 29, 2019297Infielder Pittsburgh Pirates (2015–2016, 2018–2019) [14]
Byung-hyun Kim May 29, 1999
20 years, 128 days
September 28, 2007394Pitcher Arizona Diamondbacks (1999–2003, 2007)
Boston Red Sox (2003–2004)
Colorado Rockies (2005–2007)
Florida Marlins (2007)
[15]
Hyun-soo Kim April 10, 2016
28 years, 89 days
September 30, 2017191Outfielder Baltimore Orioles (2016–2017)
Philadelphia Phillies (2017)
[16]
Kwang-hyun Kim July 24, 2020
32 years, 2 days
October 2, 202135Pitcher St. Louis Cardinals (2020–2021) [17]
Sun-woo Kim June 15, 2001
23 years, 284 days
September 17, 2006118Pitcher Boston Red Sox (2001–2002)
Montreal Expos (2002–2004)
Washington Nationals (2005)
Colorado Rockies (2005–2006)
Cincinnati Reds (2006)
[18]
Dae-sung Koo April 4, 2005
35 years, 245 days
August 20, 200533Pitcher New York Mets (2005) [19]
Dae-ho Lee April 4, 2016
33 years, 288 days
October 2, 2016104Infielder Seattle Mariners (2016) [20]
Sang-hoon Lee June 29, 2000
29 years, 110 days
October 1, 20009Pitcher Boston Red Sox (2000) [21]
Chang-yong Lim September 7, 2013
37 years, 95 days
September 27, 20136Pitcher Chicago Cubs (2013) [22]
Seung-hwan Oh April 3, 2016
33 years, 263 days
May 30, 2019232Pitcher St. Louis Cardinals (2016–2017)
Toronto Blue Jays (2018)
Colorado Rockies (2018–2019)
[23]
Byung-ho Park April 4, 2016
29 years, 269 days
June 28, 201662Infielder Minnesota Twins (2016) [24]
Chan-ho Park April 8, 1994
20 years, 282 days
October 1, 2010479Pitcher Los Angeles Dodgers (1994–2001, 2008)
Texas Rangers (2002–2005)
San Diego Padres (2005–2006)
New York Mets (2007)
Philadelphia Phillies (2009)
New York Yankees (2010)
Pittsburgh Pirates (2010)
[25]
Jae-kuk Ryu May 14, 2006
22 years, 349 days
April 9, 200828Pitcher Chicago Cubs (2006)
Tampa Bay Rays (2007–2008)
[26]
Jae-weong Seo July 21, 2002
25 years, 58 days
May 29, 2007123Pitcher New York Mets (2002–2005)
Los Angeles Dodgers (2006)
Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2006–2007)
[27]
Hyeon-jong Yang April 26, 2021
33 years, 56 days
September 13, 202112Pitcher Texas Rangers (2021) [28]
Hyun-jin Ryu April 2, 2013
26 years, 8 days
September 30, 2023186Pitcher

Awards and honors

All-Star selections

PlayerAgeSeasonLeagueTeamPositionNoteRef
Chan-ho Park 28 2001 NL Los Angeles Dodgers P L; 9.00 ERA (1 IP, 1 ER), 1 K [29]
Byung-hyun Kim 23 2002 NL Arizona Diamondbacks PBS; 54.00 ERA (0.1 IP, 2 ER) [30]
Shin-soo Choo 36 2018 AL Texas Rangers DH .500 BA (2 AB, 1 H), 1 R [31]
Hyun-jin Ryu 32 2019 NL Los Angeles Dodgers P ( SP )0.00 ERA (1 IP) [32]

Gold Glove Award

Source: Baseball-Reference.com

Player of the Month

Source: Baseball-Reference.com

Pitcher of the Month

Source: Baseball-Reference.com

Rookie of the Month

Source: Baseball-Reference.com

Player of the Week

Source: Baseball-Reference.com

Postseason appearances

PlayerSeasonsPositions WC DS CS World Series Refs
Series
won
Games
played
Series
won
Games
played
Series
won
Games
played
Series
won
Games
played
Hee-seop Choi 2004 Los Angeles Dodgers PH L 1 [33]
Ji-man Choi 2019 Tampa Bay Rays
2020 Tampa Bay Rays
2021 Tampa Bay Rays
2022 Tampa Bay Rays
1B W
W
 
L
1
2
 
2
L
W
L
 
5
5
3
 
 
W
 
 
 
5
 
 
 
L
 
 
 
6
 
 
[34] [35]
[36] [37] [38] [39]
[40]
[41]
Shin-soo Choo 2013 Cincinnati Reds
2015 Texas Rangers
2016 Texas Rangers
CF
RF
RF
L
 
 
1
 
 
 
L
L
 
5
1
[42]
[43]
[44]
Byung-hyun Kim 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks
2002 Arizona Diamondbacks
2003 Boston Red Sox
P W
L
W
1
1
1
W
 
 
3
 
 
W
 
 
2
 
 
[45] [46] [47]
[48]
[49]
Ha-seong Kim 2022 San Diego Padres SS W 3 W 4 L 5 [50] [51] [52]
Hyun-soo Kim 2016 Baltimore Orioles LF L 1 [53]
Kwang-hyun Kim 2020 St. Louis Cardinals P L 1 [54]
Seung-hwan Oh 2018 Colorado Rockies P W 1 L 2 [55] [56]
Chan-ho Park 2006 San Diego Padres
2008 Los Angeles Dodgers
2009 Philadelphia Phillies
P L
 
 
1
 
 
 
L
W
 
4
4
 
 
L
 
 
4
[57]
[58]
[59] [60]
Hyun-jin Ryu 2013 Los Angeles Dodgers
2014 Los Angeles Dodgers
2018 Los Angeles Dodgers
2019 Los Angeles Dodgers
2020 Toronto Blue Jays
P 
 
 
 
L
 
 
 
 
1
W
L
W
L
 
1
1
1
1
 
L
 
W
 
 
1
 
2
 
 
 
 
L
 
 
 
 
1
 
 
[61] [62]
[63]
[64] [65] [66]
[67]
[36]

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See also