(LEAD) Several statistical races going down to wire in KBO
SEOUL, Oct. 6 (Yonhap) -- With all five postseason berths determined in South Korean baseball, several individual statistical races are going down to the wire.
Teams in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) have one to five games remaining on the regular season, which is scheduled to end Monday.
The battle for the home run title is down to a trio of sluggers. Kim Do-yeong of the Kia Tigers leads the way with 43 dingers in 130 games through Tuesday -- despite missing about two weeks in September to participate in the Asian Games in Japan.
Kim Do-yeong of the Kia Tigers celebrates from second base after teammate Harold Castro hit a two-run home run against the KT Wiz during the teams' Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in the southwestern city of Gwangju on Sept. 30, 2026. (Yonhap)
Kim is trying to hold off two Americans -- Sam Hilliard of the KT Wiz and Austin Dean of the LG Twins, who are both at 41.
Hilliard caught fire in September by launching 10 home runs, and Dean ended an 11-game homerless drought Sunday and homered again Tuesday.
Kim homered in his first game back from the Asian Games last Thursday, and went deep Monday and again Tuesday.
The Tigers have five games remaining, two more than the Wiz and one more than the Twins.
Hilliard is the RBI leader with 130, but he is only three ahead of Dean and five ahead of Lewin Diaz of the Samsung Lions. Diaz's Lions have four games remaining.
Another close battle is under way in hits, where Choi Won-jun of the Wiz and Victor Reyes of the Lotte Giants are tied for the KBO lead at 201.
Reyes led the league in hits in each of the past two years, and did so in 2024 with the KBO-record total of 202.
Sam Hilliard of the KT Wiz hits an RBI double against the Lotte Giants during the clubs' Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, on Oct. 5, 2026. (Yonhap)
On Tuesday, the Venezuelan hitting machine became the first player in KBO history with multiple 200-hit seasons, and he has five games left in which to break his own record. The 32-year-old has played every game since joining the Giants in 2024 -- 427 games and counting.
Choi, meanwhile, has a sizable lead in the runs scored category with 123, nine more than Kim Do-yeong.
Lions outfielder Koo Ja-wook seems to have locked down his first career batting title with a .371 mark, with Reyes sitting in a distant second at .359. Koo has not played since last Wednesday due to a left hamstring injury and is not expected back in the regular season. Koo has already accumulated enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title.
In pitching categories, Gwak Been of the Doosan Bears grabbed the strikeout lead over Elvin Rodriguez of the Giants by recording 11 Ks on Tuesday to reach 197 for the season.
Gwak also leads the way in ERA with 2.24, comfortably ahead of Adam Oller of the Tigers, who is at 3.03.
Three pitchers share the KBO lead with 14 wins -- Choi Min-seok of the Bears, Im Chan-kyu of the Twins and Ko Young-pyo of the Wiz. If no one from that trio earns the 15th win, then 14 would end up being the lowest total for a KBO leader since 2013.
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