# 2018 KBO League season

The 2018 KBO League season was the 37th season in the history of the KBO League.

## Standings

| Rank | Team | W | L | D | Pct. | GB | Postseason |
| 1 | Doosan Bears | 93 | 51 | 0 | .646 | – | Korean Series |
| 2 | SK Wyverns | 78 | 65 | 1 | .545 | 14.5 | Playoff |
| 3 | Hanwha Eagles | 77 | 67 | 0 | .535 | 16.0 | Semi-playoff |
| 4 | Nexen Heroes | 75 | 69 | 0 | .521 | 18.0 | Wild Card |
| 5 | KIA Tigers | 70 | 74 | 0 | .486 | 23.0 | Wild Card |
| 6 | Samsung Lions | 68 | 72 | 4 | .486 | 23.0 | Did not qualify |
| 7 | Lotte Giants | 68 | 74 | 2 | .479 | 24.0 | Did not qualify |
| 8 | LG Twins | 67 | 75 | 1 | .472 | 24.5 | Did not qualify |
| 9 | KT Wiz | 59 | 82 | 3 | .420 | 32.5 | Did not qualify |
| 10 | NC Dinos | 58 | 85 | 1 | .406 | 34.5 | Did not qualify |
Source

## League Leaders

Batting leaders :
| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| Batting average | Kim Hyun-soo | LG Twins | .362 |
| Home runs | Kim Jae-hwan | Doosan Bears | 44 |
| Runs batted in | Kim Jae-hwan | Doosan Bears | 133 |
| Runs | Jeon Jun-woo | Lotte Giants | 118 |
| Hits | Jeon Jun-woo | Lotte Giants | 190 |
| Stolen Base | Park Hae-min | Samsung Lions | 36 |
| On Base Percentage | Park Byung-ho | Nexen Heroes | .460 |
| Slugging Percentage | Park Byung-ho | Nexen Heroes | .718 |
Pitching leaders :
| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| Earned run average | Josh Lindblom | Doosan Bears | 2.88 |
| Wins | Seth Frankoff | Doosan Bears | 18 |
| Saves | Jung Woo-ram | Hanwha Eagles | 35 |
| Holds | Oh Hyoun-Taek | Lotte Giants | 25 |
| Innings Pitched | Jake Brigham | Nexen Heroes | 199 |
| Winning percentage | Seth Frankoff | Doosan Bears | .857 |
| Strikeouts | Keyvius Sampson | Hanwha Eagles | 195 |
| WHIP | Josh Lindblom | Doosan Bears | 1.07 |

## Foreign players

Each team can sign up to three foreign players. Due to the high proportion of pitchers signed in previous years, beginning in 2014 the league has mandated that at least one of the foreign players must be a position player.
| Team | Player | Position | In KBO since | Salary | Notes |
| Samsung Lions | Tim Adleman | Pitcher | 2018 | $1,050,000 | |
| Samsung Lions | Lisalverto Bonilla | Pitcher | 2018 | $700,000 | |
| Samsung Lions | Darin Ruf | Infielder | 2017 | $1,500,000 | |
| NC Dinos | Logan Verrett | Pitcher | 2018 | $800,000 | |
| NC Dinos | Wei-Chung Wang | Pitcher | 2018 | $900,000 | |
| NC Dinos | Xavier Scruggs | Infielder | 2017 | $1,300,000 | |
| Doosan Bears | Seth Frankoff | Pitcher | 2018 | $850,000 | |
| Doosan Bears | Josh Lindblom | Pitcher | 2015 | $1,450,000 | |
| Doosan Bears | Jimmy Paredes | Infielder | 2018 | $800,000 | Released |
| Doosan Bears | Scott Van Slyke | Outfielder | 2018 | $320,000 | Mid-season signing |
| Nexen Heroes | Esmil Rogers | Pitcher | 2015 | $1,500,000 | Released |
| Nexen Heroes | Jake Brigham | Pitcher | 2017 | $650,000 | |
| Nexen Heroes | Michael Choice | Outfielder | 2017 | $600,000 | Released |
| Nexen Heroes | Eric Hacker | Pitcher | 2013 | $300,000 | Mid-season signing |
| Nexen Heroes | Jerry Sands | Outfielder | 2018 | $100,000 | Mid-season signing |
| SK Wyverns | Merrill Kelly | Pitcher | 2015 | $1,750,000 | |
| SK Wyverns | Ángel Sánchez | Pitcher | 2018 | $1,100,000 | |
| SK Wyverns | Jamie Romak | Infielder | 2017 | $850,000 | |
| Hanwha Eagles | Keyvius Sampson | Pitcher | 2018 | $700,000 | |
| Hanwha Eagles | Jason Wheeler | Pitcher | 2018 | $575,000 | Released |
| Hanwha Eagles | Jared Hoying | Outfielder | 2018 | $700,000 | |
| Hanwha Eagles | David Hale | Pitcher | 2018 | $500,000 | Mid-season signing |
| Kia Tigers | Héctor Noesí | Pitcher | 2016 | $2,000,000 | |
| Kia Tigers | Pat Dean | Pitcher | 2017 | $925,000 | |
| Kia Tigers | Roger Bernadina | Outfielder | 2017 | $1,100,000 | |
| Lotte Giants | Brooks Raley | Pitcher | 2015 | $1,170,000 | |
| Lotte Giants | Félix Doubront | Pitcher | 2018 | $1,000,000 | |
| Lotte Giants | Andy Burns | Infielder | 2017 | $730,000 | |
| LG Twins | Henry Sosa | Pitcher | 2012 | $1,200,000 | |
| LG Twins | Tyler Wilson | Pitcher | 2018 | $800,000 | |
| LG Twins | Adonis García | Infielder | 2018 | $800,000 | |
| KT Wiz | Ryan Feierabend | Pitcher | 2015 | $1,050,000 | |
| KT Wiz | Dustin Nippert | Pitcher | 2011 | $1,000,000 | |
| KT Wiz | Mel Rojas Jr. | Outfielder | 2017 | $1,000,000 | |

### Foreign hitters

| Team | Player | Batting Average | Home Runs | RBI | Notes |
| Doosan Bears | Jimmy Paredes | .138 | 1 | 4 | Released by the team |
| Doosan Bears | Scott Van Slyke | .128 | 1 | 4 | Signed to replace Jimmy Paredes |
| Hanwha Eagles | Jared Hoying | .306 | 30 | 110 | |
| Kia Tigers | Roger Bernadina | .315 | 20 | 70 | |
| KT Wiz | Mel Rojas Jr. | .305 | 43 | 114 | |
| LG Twins | Adonis Garcia | .339 | 8 | 34 | |
| Lotte Giants | Andy Burns | .303 | 15 | 57 | |
| NC Dinos | Xavier Scruggs | .257 | 26 | 97 | |
| Nexen Heroes | Michael Choice | .258 | 17 | 61 | Released by the team |
| Nexen Heroes | Jerry Sands | .314 | 12 | 37 | Signed to replace Michael Choice |
| Samsung Lions | Darin Ruf | .330 | 33 | 125 | |
| SK Wyverns | Jamie Romak | .316 | 43 | 107 | |

## Postseason

| Wild Card | Wild Card | Wild Card | Semi-playoff | Semi-playoff | Semi-playoff | Playoff | Playoff | Playoff | Korean Series | Korean Series | Korean Series |
| | | | | | | | | | 1 | Doosan Bears | 2 |
| | | | | | | 2 | SK Wyverns | 3 | 2 | SK Wyverns | 4 |
| | | | 3 | Hanwha Eagles | 1 | 4 | Nexen Heroes | 2 | | | |
| 4 | Nexen Heroes | 2 | 4 | Nexen Heroes | 3 | | | | | | |
| 5 | KIA Tigers | 0 | | | | | | | | | |

### Wild Card

The series started with a 1–0 advantage for the fourth-placed team.
Nexen Heroes (2) vs. KIA Tigers (0)
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | October 16 | KIA Tigers – 6, Nexen Heroes – 10 | Gocheok Sky Dome | 3:42 | 15,915 |

### Semi-Playoff

Hanwha Eagles (1) vs. Nexen Heroes (3)
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | October 19 | Nexen Heroes – 3, Hanwha Eagles – 2 | Daejeon Hanbat Baseball Stadium | 4:15 | 12,400 |
| 2 | October 20 | Nexen Heroes – 7, Hanwha Eagles – 5 | Daejeon Hanbat Baseball Stadium | 4:28 | 12,400 |
| 3 | October 22 | Hanwha Eagles – 4, Nexen Heroes – 3 | Gocheok Sky Dome | 3:46 | 16,300 |
| 4 | October 23 | Hanwha Eagles – 2, Nexen Heroes – 5 | Gocheok Sky Dome | 3:41 | 16,300 |

### Playoff

SK Wyverns (3) vs. Nexen Heroes (2)
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | October 27 | Nexen Heroes – 8, SK Wyverns – 10 | Munhak Baseball Stadium | 3:54 | 24,219 |
| 2 | October 28 | Nexen Heroes – 1, SK Wyverns – 5 | Munhak Baseball Stadium | 3:22 | 23,642 |
| 3 | October 30 | SK Wyverns – 2, Nexen Heroes – 3 | Gocheok Sky Dome | 3:04 | 13,839 |
| 4 | October 31 | SK Wyverns – 2, Nexen Heroes – 4 | Gocheok Sky Dome | 3:19 | 11,683 |
| 5 | November 2 | Nexen Heroes – 10, SK Wyverns – 11 (10) | Munhak Baseball Stadium | 4:54 | 18,562 |

### Korean Series

Doosan Bears (2) vs. SK Wyverns (4)
| Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
| 1 | November 4 | SK Wyverns – 7, Doosan Bears – 3 | Jamsil Baseball Stadium | 3:58 | 25,000 |
| 2 | November 5 | SK Wyverns – 3, Doosan Bears – 7 | Jamsil Baseball Stadium | 3:14 | 25,000 |
| 3 | November 7 | Doosan Bears – 2, SK Wyverns – 7 | Munhak Baseball Stadium | 3:22 | 25,000 |
| 4 | November 9 | Doosan Bears – 2, SK Wyverns – 1 | Munhak Baseball Stadium | 3:07 | 25,000 |
| 5 | November 10 | Doosan Bears – 1, SK Wyverns – 4 | Munhak Baseball Stadium | 3:08 | 25,000 |
| 6 | November 12 | SK Wyverns – 5, Doosan Bears – 4 (13) | Jamsil Baseball Stadium | 5:07 | 25,000 |

## Attendances

| Team | Total attendance | Home average | Change vs. 2017 |
| Doosan Bears | 1,112,066 | 15,445 | 2 % |
| LG Twins | 1,108,677 | 15,398 | −2 % |
| SK Wyverns | 1,037,211 | 14,406 | 16 % |
| Lotte Giants | 901,634 | 12,523 | −13 % |
| KIA Tigers | 861,729 | 11,968 | −16 % |
| Samsung Lions | 752,310 | 10,449 | 7 % |
| Hanwha Eagles | 734,110 | 10,196 | 24 % |
| KT Wiz | 668,559 | 9,286 | −3 % |
| Nexen Heroes | 454,574 | 6,314 | −35 % |
| NC Dinos | 442,872 | 6,151 | −17 % |
| Total | 8,073,742 | 11,214 | -4 % |