KBO to hand out MVP, top rookie awards on Nov. 24

The Korean baseball league will present its regular-season MVP award and the top rookie prize during an annual ceremony next week. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said Wednesday the 2025 KBO Awards ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. Monday at Lotte Hotel World in Seoul. The KBO already announced 18 candidates for the MVP award on Oct. 5, with leaders of major pitching and hitting categories earning automatic nominations. The battle for the MVP honor is widely viewed as a two-horse race between Hanwha Eagles ace Cody Ponce, the pitching Triple Crown winner, and Samsung Lions first baseman Lewin Diaz, who topped the league in home runs, RBIs, slugging percentage and on-base plus slugging (OPS). Ponce led the KBO with 17 wins, a 1.89 ERA and a league-record 252 strikeouts. The American right-hander also established a new mark for the most consecutive wins by a pitcher from the start of a season with 17, while losing just one decision for a league-best winning percentage of .944. Diaz led all hitters with 50 home runs — the most ever by a foreign-born player in league history — and set tWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times