CHANGWON -- Having played more than 20 regular games before thousands of empty seats during the coronavirus pandemic, NC Dinos' designated hitter Na Sung-bum has grown accustomed to playing without fans. That does not mean Na does not miss them. With the Dinos having jumped out to the best record in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) at 19-6, Na feels fans in Changwon, 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul, are missing out. "It'd be great if fans were here to watch us win games," Na

South Korean baseball's minor league will start using "robot umpires" in August, a league official said Thursday. The official with the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said about 20 games in the Futures League will have the automated ball-strike system in place this season, and it will be used for the entire 2021 season. The KBO's top league may follow suit as early as 2022. Though the system is colloquially called the robot umpire, it doesn't involve any robots standing behind t

CHANGWON -- At the tender age of 23, NC Dinos' starter Koo Chang-mo may already have become the ultimate Zen master in South Korean baseball. He has figured out how to pitch with an empty mind, a state where he is clear of unnecessary thoughts and his focus is solely on his target. "When I am on the mound, I am not thinking of anything else but trying to hit the catcher's mitt," Koo told reporters Wednesday prior to a Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular season game versus the

For baseball pitchers, throwing strikes is much easier said than done. If they could all do it at will, baseball would be a much simpler game for them. It's only the elite few that can do it at a rate that makes them successful. In the 2020 Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season, the NC Dinos' Koo Chang-mo, the best starter after the first month by many measures, also leads the league in first pitch strike percentage. Koo tops all qualified pitchers with a first pitch strike rate of 76.4 pe

Two aces and two hitters will contend for South Korean baseball's top player honor for the month of May. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) unveiled four candidates for the Player of the Month award Tuesday. They are NC Dinos' starter Koo Chang-mo, Kiwoom Heroes' starter Eric Jokisch, LG Twins' first baseman Roberto Ramos and Doosan Bears' designated hitter Jose Miguel Fernandez. Koo and Jokisch are tied for the league lead at four wins apiece. Koo is the sole leader in other Triple Crown

Rare is a South Korean baseball team that feels genuinely happy for a player it has just traded away. But the Doosan Bears may prove to be an exception, after dealing their third-string catcher Lee Heung-ryun to the SK Wyverns last Friday. Trades aren't that common in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), with teams reluctant to make deals out of fears that players would often come back to haunt them in the small, 10-team league. Even the deals that are made don't move the needle much. The

The Samsung Lions' rookie left-hander Heo Yun-dong readily admits he got lucky in his first professional start last week. Still just 18, the first-year hurler out of high school faced the Lotte Giants in his Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) debut Thursday, filling in for injured starter Ben Lively. Heo promptly hit the first batter he faced, and two batters later, issued a walk to put two aboard for the dangerous slugger Lee Dae-ho. Lee turned on a 0-1 pitch and sent it soaring over the left

There are many different ways to measure the excellence of a baseball team. And sitting atop the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) standings after the first month of the season, the NC Dinos check off many boxes. Offense? They lead the league with 152 runs scored, a .370 on-base percentage and a .482 slugging percentage. Long balls? They have gone deep 35 times, more than any other club. Pitching? Their staff has the league-low 3.73 ERA, and they have given up fewer runs than anyone with 92. W

The Lotte Giants have scored a grand total of five runs in their past four games in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) heading into their weekend series against the Doosan Bears starting Friday. But when the Bears' manager Kim Tae-hyoung looks across the diamond and into the opposing dugout, he sees a lineup that can go off at any moment. "Every team has its ups and downs, and the Giants' lineup can be really explosive," Kim said in his pregame media availability at Jamsil Stadiu

SK Wyverns' slugger Choi Jeong had hit that proverbial rock bottom. He had the worst batting average among 61 qualified batters in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) with .153 before Thursday's game against the Doosan Bears. The only way for him to go was up. Choi went 2-for-5 with two doubles and three RBIs Thursday, helping the Wyverns to a 6-1 victory at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul. Well, Choi is still the worst qualified hitter in the league, but at least his batting average went up to .17

The SK Wyverns defeated the Doosan Bears 6-1 to avoid getting swept in their Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular season series on Thursday. In his first career start, SK right-hander Lee Geun-wook tossed 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball, while slumping slugger Choi Jeong broke through with two doubles and three RBIs. The Wyverns remain in last place in the 10-team KBO with a 4-16 mark. The Bears fell to 12-8.   SK's No. 8 hitter Lee Hong-ku put his team on the board first with

Former major league player Kang Jung-ho told his ex-Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) club Kiwoom Heroes on Thursday that he'd like to rejoin the team once his one-year suspension, stemming from past drunk driving cases, ends in 2021. The Heroes said Kang reached out to their general manager Kim Chi-hyun earlier Thursday and expressed his desire to be reunited with the club. Kang is currently staying in the United States. Kang, who left the Heroes via posting to sign with the Pittsburgh Pirat

SUWON -- KT Wiz's outfielder Bae Jung-dae has been regarded as a glove-first player in his Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) career. But this year, his fifth as a pro, Bae is making some noise with his bat. After extending his hitting streak to 12 games in Wednesday's game against the Kia Tigers, Bae said he's stepping up to the plate with much more confidence than before. "I tell myself, 'I am the best,' as I step into the batter's box," Bae said after going 3-for-4 with two double

While other clubs in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) display batting averages for their hitters on the scoreboard, the Lotte Giants have begun putting up on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) this season. As a sum of a player's on-base percentage and slugging percentage, OPS is a measure of two critical offensive skills: an ability to get on base and to hit for power. The Giants' decision to highlight that statistic represents a new direction for the club, whose revamped front office ha

Hanwha Eagles' ace Chad Bell had been itching to get it going, feeling frustrated that his arm issue had kept him on the sidelines at the start of the new Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season earlier this month. Bell finally returned to action Tuesday after recovering from what the club said was strained left elbow. He got a no-decision after 3 1/3 shutout innings in the Eagles' 3-0 loss at home in Daejeon, 160 kilometers south of Seoul. Results aside, Bell said he was "very, very pl