2019 KBO League season

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]

2019 KBO League
LeagueKBO League
SportBaseball
DurationMarch 23 – October 1
Number of games144 per team
Number of teams10
Total attendance7,286,008
Regular Season
Season championsDoosan Bears
Season MVPJosh Lindblom (Doosan)
Postseason
Wild Card championsLG Twins
  Wild Card runners-upNC Dinos
Semi-playoffs championsKiwoom Heroes
  Semi-playoffs runners-upLG Twins
Playoffs championsKiwoom Heroes
  Playoffs runners-upSK Wyverns
Korean Series
ChampionsDoosan Bears
  Runners-upKiwoom Heroes
Finals MVPOh Jae-il (Doosan)
KBO League seasons

Standings

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Rank Team P W L D Pct. GB Postseason
1 Doosan Bears 144 88 55 1 .615 Korean Series
2 SK Wyverns 144 88 55 1 .615 0.0 Playoff
3 Kiwoom Heroes 144 86 57 1 .601 2.0 Semi-playoff
4 LG Twins 144 79 64 1 .552 9.0 Wild Card
5 NC Dinos 144 73 69 2 .514 14.5
6 kt Wiz 144 71 71 2 .500 16.5 Did not qualify
7 KIA Tigers 144 62 80 2 .437 25.5
8 Samsung Lions 144 60 83 1 .420 28.0
9 Hanwha Eagles 144 58 86 0 .403 30.5
10 Lotte Giants 144 48 93 3 .340 39.0

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

League Leaders

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Foreign players

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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]

Team Player Position In KBO Since Salary
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 2019 TK
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

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Team Player Batting
Average
Home Runs RBI Notes
Doosan Bears José Miguel Fernández .344 15 88 KBO hits leader; Golden Glove Award
Hanwha Eagles Jared Hoying .284 18 73
Kia Tigers Jeremy Hazelbaker .146 2 5 Released by the team
Preston Tucker .311 9 50 Signed to replace Jeremy Hazelbaker
KT Wiz Mel Rojas Jr. .322 24 104 Golden Glove Award
LG Twins Tommy Joseph .274 9 36
Lotte Giants Carlos Asuaje .252 2 21 Released by the team
Jacob Wilson .251 9 37 Signed to replace Carlos Asuaje
NC Dinos Christian Bethancourt .246 8 29 Released by the team
Jake Smolinski .229 9 42 Signed to replace Christian Bethancourt
Nexen Heroes Jerry Sands .305 28 113 KBO RBI leader; Golden Glove Award
Samsung Lions Darin Ruf .291 22 101
SK Wyverns Jamie Romak .276 29 95

Postseason

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Wild Card

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

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

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 3 NC Dinos – 1, LG Twins – 3 Jamsil Baseball Stadium 3:00 23,757

Semi-playoff

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

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 6 LG Twins – 0, Kiwoom Heroes1 Gocheok Sky Dome 2:49 16,300 
2 October 7 LG Twins – 4, Kiwoom Heroes5 (10 inn.) Gocheok Sky Dome - 14,589 
3 October 9 Kiwoom Heroes – 2, LG Twins4 Jamsil Baseball Stadium - 25,000 
4 October 10 Kiwoom Heroes10, LG Twins – 5 Jamsil Baseball Stadium - 21,600

Playoff

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

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

Korean Series

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

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

Attendances

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Team Total attendance Home average Change vs. 2018
LG Twins 1,000,400 13,894 -10%
Doosan Bears 983,474 13,659 -12%
SK Wyverns 982,962 13,652 -5%
NC Dinos 710,274 9,865 +60%
KIA Tigers 692,163 9,613 -20%
Samsung Lions 691,681 9,607 -8%
Lotte Giants 679,208 9,33 -25%
Hanwha Eagles 555,225 7,711 -24%
KT Wiz 536,735 7,455 -20%
Kiwoom Heroes 453,886 6,304 -0%
Total 7,286,008 10,119 -10%

See also

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References

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  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.