LG Twins outfielders among inaugural winners of KBO Fielding Award

SEOUL, 17 November (BelTA -Yonhap News). - A pair of outfielders for the Korean Series champions LG Twins were named among inaugural winners of an award recognizing defensive excellence in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO).

The KBO announced winners in the pitcher and three outfield positions for its new KBO Fielding Award on Friday. Twins center fielder Park Hae-min and right fielder Hong Chang-ki won the awards at their respective positions, joined by Guillermo Heredia of the SSG Landers in left.

Erick Fedde of the NC Dinos was named the winner in the pitcher position.

The manager, nine coaches and the general manager from each of the 10 clubs cast their votes for the defensive award, and they were not allowed to vote for players on their own teams. The fielding index developed by the KBO and its official statistics provider, Sports 2i, was used as a reference. The official fielding score, which accounts for fielding percentage and range factor, was also used for all nine positions.

Votes by managers and coaches comprised 75 percent of the selection total, and the fielding stats counted for the remaining 25 percent.

Park, long considered the KBO's premier center fielder, earned 40 votes from managers and coaches for 75 voting points, and scored 18.06 points in the fielding stats. His 93.06 total points held off Jung Soo-bin of the Doosan Bears, who had 87.5 points.

In right field, Hong had 75 voting points and 19.64 points in the fielding stats, finishing over 20 points ahead of the two co-runners-up, Park Kun-woo of the NC Dinos and Yoon Dong-hee of the Lotte Giants.

Heredia earned the most votes from managers and coaches with 67, which translated into 75 voting points. He collected 15 points from his fielding stats.

For pitchers, fielding bunts and pickoff throws were considered, Fedde earned 19 votes for 75 voting points, more than any other pitcher, and collected another 19.91 points with his fielding numbers, for a total of 94.91 points. He narrowly beat out Ko Young-pyo of the KT Wiz, who finished with 94.21 points.

The KBO is scheduled to announce the winners at catcher and four infield spots Sunday. The award ceremony is Nov. 27 in Seoul, with the winners of the MVP and Rookie of the Year awards also scheduled to be announced.