The KT Wiz (Korean: KT 위즈; stylized as kt wiz) are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Suwon. They are a member of the KBO League. Their home stadium is Suwon Baseball Stadium in Suwon.
| KT Wiz | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KT 위즈 | |||||
| |||||
| Information | |||||
| League | KBO League (2015–present) | ||||
| Location | Suwon | ||||
| Ballpark | Suwon Baseball Stadium (2015–present) | ||||
| Established | January 2013 | ||||
| League championships | 2021 | ||||
| Korean Series championships | 2021 | ||||
| Colors | Black, red and white | ||||
| Ownership | KT | ||||
| Manager | Lee Kang-chul | ||||
| Website | www | ||||
History
editOn 11 January 2013, the Korea Baseball Organization officially approved KT Baseball Club's admission to KBO League, beginning with the 2015 season. The Suwon KT Wiz played the 2013 season as part of the KBO Futures League's Freedom Division,[1] and the 2014 season as part of the Futures League's Blue League division.[2] In 2015, the team was elevated to the KBO League.
As a new KBO League team in 2015, the Wiz were allowed four foreign players on their roster each season (as opposed to the usual three).[3] Foreign players signed by the Wiz for the 2015 season were pitchers Phil Irwin, Andrew Sisco and Chris Oxspring, and hitter Andy Marte (Sisco and Irwin were both released mid-season and replaced by Dan Black and Justin Germano, respectively). Beginning in the 2017 season, the Wiz's allowed allotment of foreign players reverted to three to match the rest of the league.
After five straight seasons without a playoff appearance, Wiz finally broke through in 2020, finishing second with a 81–62–1 record.[4] They were eliminated by the Doosan Bears in the semifinals after four games.[4] The following year, for the first time in franchise history, KT Wiz became regular season champions after defeating the Samsung Lions in an additional tiebreaker and advanced directly to the Korean Series.[5] In the final, they won their first Korean Series title, sweeping the Doosan Bears in four games.[6]
Season-by-season records
edit| Year | Rank | Regular season | Postseason | Awards | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standings | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win% | BA | HR | ERA | ||||
| 2015 | 10/10 | 10/10 | 144 | 52 | 91 | 1 | .364 | .273 | 129 | 5.56 | Did not qualify | |
| 2016 | 10/10 | 10/10 | 144 | 53 | 89 | 2 | .373 | .276 | 116 | 5.92 | Did not qualify | |
| 2017 | 10/10 | 10/10 | 144 | 50 | 94 | 0 | .347 | .275 | 119 | 5.75 | Did not qualify | |
| 2018 | 9/10 | 9/10 | 144 | 59 | 82 | 3 | .418 | .275 | 206 | 5.34 | Did not qualify | Kang Baek-ho (ROTY) |
| 2019 | 6/10 | 6/10 | 144 | 71 | 71 | 2 | .500 | .277 | 103 | 4.29 | Did not qualify | |
| 2020 | 3/10 | 2/10 | 144 | 81 | 62 | 1 | .566 | .284 | 163 | 4.54 | Lost playoff vs. Doosan Bears (1–3) | Mel Rojas Jr. (MVP) So Hyung-jun (ROTY) |
| 2021 | 1/10 | 1/10 | 144 | 76 | 59 | 9 | .563 | .265 | 106 | 3.67 | Won Korean Series vs. Doosan Bears (4–0) | |
| 2022 | 4/10 | 4/10 | 144 | 80 | 62 | 2 | .563 | .254 | 119 | 3.51 | Won wild card vs. Kia Tigers (1–0) Lost semi-playoff vs. Kiwoom Heroes (2–3) |
|
| 2023 | 2/10 | 2/10 | 144 | 79 | 62 | 3 | .560 | .265 | 89 | 3.94 | Won playoff vs. NC Dinos (3–2) Lost Korean Series vs. LG Twins (1–4) |
|
| 2024 | 5/10 | 5/10 | 144 | 72 | 70 | 2 | .507 | .279 | 145 | 5.11 | Won wild card vs. Doosan Bears (2–0) Lost semi-playoff vs. LG Twins (2–3) |
|
Current squad
editManagers
edit- Cho Bum-hyun (2013–2016)
- Kim Jin-wook (2017–2018)
- Lee Kang-chul (2019–present)
References
edit- General
- "Complete league history and statistics" (in Korean). Korean Baseball League. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
- "Complete league history and statistics". Korean Baseball League. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- Notes
- ^ Fast, Alex. "So You Want To Get Into The KBO: The Pitcher List staff brings you the definitive guide to the KBO," Pitcher List (May 2020).
- ^ "PARTICIPATING FRANCHISES IN THE KBO FUTURES LEAGUE," Baseball in Korea (19 January 2014).
- ^ "KBO clubs snatch up new foreign players following rule change," Yonhap News Agency (16 December 2013).
- ^ a b "2020 Korean Baseball Organization". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
- ^ "KT Wiz win KBO tiebreaker game to reach 1st Korean Series". The Korea Herald. 31 October 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
- ^ "(LEAD) How sweep it is: KT Wiz defeat Doosan Bears in 4 straight for 1st Korean Series title". Yonhap News Agency. 18 November 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
External links
edit
- Official website (in Korean)
- KT Wiz on Facebook (in Korean)