Hanwha Eagles closer Kim Seo-hyeon pitches against the Doosan Bears during a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Daejeon Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon, 140 kilometers south of Seoul, on June 12, 2025. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 23 (Korea Bizwire) — Hanwha Eagles closer Kim Seo-hyeon has come out on top in the annual South Korean baseball All-Star voting after earning a record number of votes from fans.
Kim, the third-year reliever for the top club in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), was named the closer for the “Nanum” All-Star team after earning 1,786,837 votes from fans and 220 votes from his peers, for 54.19 points.
In fan voting, Kim shattered the previous record held by Kia Tigers pitcher Yang Hyeon-jong, who received 1,413,722 votes in 2022.
Each July, representatives from the 10 KBO clubs are divided into the Nanum and “Dream” All-Star teams for an exhibition game. This year’s All-Star Game will be July 12 at the Eagles’ brand new home stadium, Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in Daejeon, some 140 kilometers south of Seoul.
Players from the Eagles, the LG Twins, the Kia Tigers, the NC Dinos and the Kiwoom Heroes will make up the Nanum squad. Those from the Samsung Lions, the Lotte Giants, the SSG Landers, the KT Wiz and the Doosan Bears will play for the Dream side.
Fans and players selected the 12 starters in the following positions and roles: starting pitcher, middle reliever, closer, catcher, first baseman, second baseman, third baseman, shortstop, three outfield positions and designated hitter.
Kim, 21, is fourth in the KBO this season with 18 saves and his 1.51 ERA is the lowest among the seven relievers with at least 10 saves.
He is the first Eagles pitcher to lead the All-Star fan voting.
Three other Eagles players made the All-Star team: starting pitcher Cody Ponce, middle reliever Park Sang-won, and outfielder Estevan Florial.
Samsung Lions reliever Bae Chan-seung pitches against the Doosan Bears during a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, in this March 30, 2025, file photo. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
Florial has been sidelined with a broken finger and may miss the All-Star Game.
The other Nanum players are: Twins catcher Park Dong-won; Twins first baseman Austin Dean; Dinos second baseman Park Min-woo; Tigers third baseman Kim Do-yeong; Tigers shortstop Park Chan-ho; Dinos outfielder Park Kun-woo; Twins outfielder Park Hae-min; and Tigers designated hitter (DH) Choi Hyoung-woo.
The Heroes were the only team not to have a starting player for the Nanum side.
Only three clubs are represented in the starting lineup for the Dream team, with six players from the Giants, five from the Lions and one from the Landers.
Those players are: Lions starter Won Tae-in; Lions reliever Bae Chan-seung; Giants closer Kim Won-jung; Lions catcher Kang Min-ho; Lions first baseman Lewin Diaz; Giants second baseman Go Seung-min; Landers third baseman Choi Jeong; Giants shortstop Jeon Min-jae; Lions outfielder Koo Ja-wook; Giants outfielders Yoon Dong-hee and Victor Reyes; and Giants DH Jeon Jun-woo.
For this year’s All-Star Game, Bae, the middle reliever for the Dream squad, is the only rookie in the starting lineup. His batterymate, Kang, earned his 15th All-Star nod to tie the league record.
Choi Hyoung-woo, the DH for Nanum, was named the oldest All-Star Game MVP last year at age 40, and will take a crack at breaking his own record as a 41-year-old this summer.
In some positions, players who topped the fan voting finished second overall because they didn’t earn enough support from their peers, and vice versa.
For the Nanum’s DH spot, Choi was a distant second to Moon Hyun-bin of the Eagles, some 1.2 million to 949,610, but Choi had 166 votes from his peers, compared to Moon’s 90.
Jeon Jun-woo earned the DH spot for the Dream side with over 1.4 million votes from fans and 71 votes from fellow players. Ahn Hyun-min of the Wiz, a leading Rookie of the Year contender, led all DHs with 221 votes from his peers, but he only earned about 577,000 votes from fans.
Lee Bum-ho, manager of the defending champions Tigers, will be in charge of the Nanum All-Stars. Park Jin-man, whose Lions finished as the runner-up to the Tigers in 2024, will manage the Dream All-Stars.
They will each select 13 reserves.
The KBO said fans cast a record 3,529,258 votes, up by about 9 percent from a year ago.
(Yonhap)
