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. The All-Star break was extended from four days to seven.
Standings Rank Team P W L D Pct. GB Postseason 1 Doosan Bears 144 88 55 1 – Korean Series 2 SK Wyverns 144 88 55 1 0.0 Playoff 3 Kiwoom Heroes 144 86 57 1 2.0 Semi-playoff 4 LG Twins 144 79 64 1 9.0 Wild Card 5 NC Dinos 144 73 69 2 14.5 6 kt Wiz 144 71 71 2 16.5 Did not qualify 7 KIA Tigers 144 62 80 2 25.5 8 Samsung Lions 144 60 83 1 28.0 9 Hanwha Eagles 144 58 86 0 30.5 10 Lotte Giants 144 48 93 3 39.0
Doosan Bears ranked ahead of SK Wyverns due to winning their head-to-head season series 9-7.
League Leaders
+ Batting leaders Stat Player Team Total Batting Average Yang Eui-ji NC Dinos .354 Home Runs Park Byung-ho Kiwoom Heroes 33 Runs Batted In Jerry Sands Kiwoom Heroes 113 Runs Kim Ha-seong Kiwoom Heroes 112 Hits Jose Fernandez Doosan Bears 197 Stolen Bases Park Chan-Ho Kia Tigers 39 On Base Percentage Yang Eui-ji NC Dinos .438 Slugging Percentage Yang Eui-ji NC Dinos .574
+ Pitching leaders Stat Player Team Total Earned run average Yang Hyeon-jong Kia Tigers 2.29 Wins Josh Lindblom Doosan Bears 20 Saves Ha Jae-hoon SK Wyverns 36 Holds Kim Sang-su Kiwoom Heroes 40 Innings Pitched Josh Lindblom Doosan Bears 194.2 Winning percentage Josh Lindblom Doosan Bears .870 Strikeouts Josh Lindblom Doosan Bears 189 WHIP Josh Lindblom Doosan Bears 1.00
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.
Team Player Position In KBO Since SalarySamsung Lions Pitcher 2019 $900,000 Pitcher 2019 $950,000 Infielder 2017 $1,700,000NC Dinos Pitcher 2019 $1,000,000 Pitcher 2019 $1,000,000 Catcher 2019 $1,000,000 Outfielder 2019 TKDoosan Bears Pitcher 2018 $1,230,000 Pitcher 2015 $1,920,000 Infielder 2019 $700,000Kiwoom Heroes Pitcher 2017 $900,000 Pitcher 2019 $500,000 Outfielder 2018 $500,000SK Wyverns Pitcher 2019 $700,000 Outfielder 2017 $1,300,000 Pitcher 2018 $1,200,000Hanwha Eagles Pitcher 2019 $600,000 Outfielder 2018 $1,400,000 Pitcher 2019 $1,000,000Kia Tigers Outfielder 2019 $700,000 Outfielder 2019 $270,000 Pitcher 2019 $1,000,000 Pitcher 2019 $1,000,000Lotte Giants Infielder 2019 $550,000 Infielder 2019 $400,000 Pitcher 2015 $1,170,000 Pitcher 2019 $900,000LG Twins Pitcher 2019 $1,000,000 Infielder 2019 $1,000,000 Pitcher 2018 $1,500,000KT Wiz Pitcher 2019 $670,000 Pitcher 2019 $650,000 Outfielder 2017 $1,600,000
Foreign hitters Team Player BattingAverage 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.
Semi-playoff
Playoff
Korean Series
Attendances
TeamTotal attendanceHome averageChange 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 2019 Major League Baseball season 2019 Nippon Professional Baseball season
References