2019 KBO League season

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
← 2018

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]

Standings

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

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]

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

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

Wild Card

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

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

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

Playoff

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

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

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

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.