Nominees for this year’s KBO Most Valuable Player Award have been announced, with 18 players (8 pitchers, 10 hitters) appearing on the ballot. Members of the Korean Baseball Writers Association will vote on a winner, though it’s widely considered to be a two-man race between Cody Ponce and Lewis Díaz.
Ponce was nearly unbeatable on the mound for the Hanwha Eagles. The 31-year-old right-hander lost just one game all season and won the Triple Crown by leading the league with 17 wins, a 1.89 ERA, and a league-record 252 strikeouts. This was his first season in the KBO.
Díaz, meanwhile, first joined the league late last season but dominated at the plate this year. The 28-year-old first baseman hit .314/.381/.644 in 628 PA with 50 HR and a league-record 158 RBI for the Samsung Lions. Díaz is the first foreign-born player to hit 50 home runs.
Among the other nominees, four pitchers (Ariel Jurado, Andrew Anderson, Ryan Weiss, and Riley Thompson) and one hitter (Victor Reyes) have MLB experience. Another, Kiwoom Heroes infielder Sung-mun Song, is looking to move to MLB via the posting system this offseason.
Ponce will likely be a heavy favorite for the Choi Dong-won Award, given to the top pitcher in the KBO (their equivalent to the Cy Young Award).
2025 marked a record-setting year across the KBO on several fronts, according to Jee-ho Yoo at Korea’s Yonhap News Agency. The league set a new attendance mark for the second year in a row, topping 12 million for the first time. Leaguewide, there were a record 331 sellouts (up from 221 the year before).
Ponce set new league records by winning his first 17 decisions and for his .944 winning percentage. He was the first foreign-born pitcher to finish a season with a sub-2.00 ERA.
The previous strikeout record was 225, set by Ariel Miranda in 2021. Both Ponce (252) and Anderson (245) broke it this season.
Eui-ji Yang led the league with a .337 batting average, becoming the first catcher to win multiple batting titles. Jeong Choi, already the KBO’s all-time home run leader, reached 500 career home runs in May. In September, he became the first player in league history with at least 20 home runs in 10 consecutive seasons.
Left-hander Kwang-hyun Kim (who spent two seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals from 2020-21) became the third player with 2,000 career strikeouts.
“The Final Boss” calls it a career
Just two players in MLB history have collected more than 500 saves in their careers: Mariano Rivera (652) and Trevor Hoffman (601). A third (Kenley Jansen) may join them next season.
Legendary Korean closer Seunghwan Oh saved 549 during his 21-year career across the KBO, NPB, and MLB. The 43-year-old has announced his retirement.
Oh’s career got off to a fast start with the Samsung Lions. He was 10-1 with 16 saves and a 1.18 ERA as a rookie, helping the Lions win the 2005 Korean Series and taking home series MVP honors. Oh was named the KBO Rookie of the Year and then added to the Korean World Baseball Classic roster just weeks later (he’d appear on the WBC roster again in 2009).
Oh was so dominant in the late innings and was such a fan favorite across the KBO that he quickly earned the nickname “The Final Boss” for his ability to shut down a game.
The Lions would win four more titles during Oh’s nine seasons with the team (he was also Korean Series MVP in 2011). He saved a KBO-record 277 games during that stretch, including a single-season record 47 in 2006 (and again in 2011).
Following the 2013 season, Oh signed a two-year deal with the NPB’s Hanshin Tigers. The Tigers would win Japan’s Climax Series that first season, with Oh taking home series MVP honors. He would save 80 games with a 2.25 ERA during his two seasons there.
Oh would sign a one-year deal (with an option) with the St. Louis Cardinals in January 2016, telling the media at his introductory news conference that he wants to be the first player to appear in the Korean Series, the Japan Series, and the World Series. He would spend parts of three seasons in the majors with the Cardinals, Blue Jays, and Rockies before being released in July 2019. Oh saved 42 games with a 3.31 ERA in the majors.
Less than a week later, Oh reunited with the Lions, where he’s spent the last six seasons and collected another 150 saves (giving him 427 total in the KBO).
16 years ago today, I officially started my first paid writing position — taking over as the lead voice of a Washington Nationals site for a team that had just drafted Stephen Strasburg first overall in the draft and finished the season in line for the top pick the next summer (which at the time already looked like it would be Bryce Harper).
I had been writing on my own for more than 18 months prior, but suddenly finding myself in a paid role (even if it was a modest sum at first) was a wild change of pace for someone who hadn’t yet realized all the opportunities this industry would provide him. I never expected the career I stumbled into.
I get reflective often — and there’s plenty to think back on in nearly two decades — but that isn’t one of those times, at least not on a grand scale.
More words
Patrick Zalupski has officially completed his purchase of the Tampa Bay Rays and now faces two key challenges.
Several must-watch prospects are participating in the Arizona Fall League, which began its season on Monday.
Ford C. Frick Award finalists announced
Finalists for the 2026 Ford C. Frick Award were announced last week without much fanfare. The group includes Brian Anderson (Brewers), Joe Buck (Fox Sports), Skip Caray (Braves), Rene Cardenas (Dodgers/Astros), Gary Cohen (Mets), Jacques Doucet (Expos/Blue Jays), Duane Kuiper (Giants), John Rooney (Twins/White Sox/Cardinals), Dan Shulman (Blue Jays), and John Sterling (Yankees).
There are several deserving candidates within the group (as well as a handful of guys with long careers still ahead of them). Cardenas and Kuiper each have 40 seasons of broadcasting on their respective resumes.
The winner will be announced on December 10 and will be honored during the awards presentation in July (usually the night before the players’ induction ceremonies).
The Frick Award, for excellence in broadcasting, is one of two annual awards presented by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. The other is the BBWAA Career Excellence Award, for meritorious contributions to baseball writing.
A third award, the Buck O’Neill Award for lifetime achievement, may not be presented more than once every three years (per the HOF’s guidelines). Only four winners have been named since its inception in 2008 (O’Neill, Roland Hemond, Joe Garagiola, and Rachel Robinson).
Five honored at Negro League Baseball Museum
Dusty Baker, Cito Gaston, Willie Randolph, and Jerry Manuel were honored this past Saturday at the Negro Leagues Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. The quartet of former managers will make up this year’s Hall of Game class.
The Hall of Game was established in 2014, per the NLBM’s website, to annually honor former MLB greats “who embodied the spirit and signature of the Negro Leagues”.
Former Angels GM Tony Reagins was also honored with the inaugural JL Wilkinson “Innovator” Award.
Baker managed the Giants, Cubs, Reds, Nationals, and Astros during his 26 seasons in the dugout, winning three pennants and a World Series title (2022 with Houston). His teams went 2183-1862 (.540 winning percentage).
Gaston managed the Blue Jays in two separate stints totaling 12 seasons, winning back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993. His teams went 894-837 (.516).
Randolph managed the Mets for parts of four seasons. His teams went 302-253 (.544).
Manuel managed the White Sox and Mets, spending nine seasons in the dugout. His teams went 704-684 (.507).
Reagins ran the Angels’ front office from 2007 until 2011. Among the many players he brought into the organization during his tenure, he was the GM responsible for drafting Mike Trout.
Elsewhere, around the sport …
Franmil Reyes won the “double crown”, leading the NPB’s Pacific League in home runs (30) and RBI (90) this season. Reyes hit .277/.347/.515 over 531 PA for the Nippon-Ham Fighters, his second year in Japan after a six-year career in the major leagues.
Former Chiba Lotte Marines right-hander Yoshihiro Ito was tragically killed on Monday when his motorcycle was hit by a taxi in an intersection, according to a report from Yahoo! Japan. Ito spent eight seasons with the Marines, pitching to a 3.83 ERA over 272.1 IP. He was 43.
Florida State outfielder BJ Gibson is reportedly going to focus solely on baseball after first arriving at the school last season as a multi-sport athlete. Gibson was also a wide receiver on the Seminoles football team (he only had two catches for 14 yards). Gibson hit .242/.409/.333 in 44 PA as a freshman.