The 2023 KBO Golden Glove Awards will be held at the COEX Auditorium in Gangnam-gu, Seoul at 5 p.m. on the 11th.
One of the biggest battlegrounds is the shortstop sector.
Oh Ji-hwan won the Golden Glove at shortstop last year. He garnered 246 votes out of 313 votes, and held the golden glove in his arms for the first time in his 14th year as a professional player. He garnered 78.6 percent of the vote, as he had no clear competitor.
The situation is different this year, however. With eight candidates on the list, the competition is narrowed down to a “two-way race” between Park Chan-ho and Oh Ji-hwan.
Park Chan-ho, who has made progress in offense, which was evaluated as a weak point, is aiming for his first Golden Glove award since his professional debut in 2014. Oh is dreaming of winning the award for two consecutive years.
Park Chan-ho is slightly ahead in terms of batting performance in the regular season.
Park played in 130 games this season, posting a batting average of 0.301, three homers, 52 RBIs, 30 stolen bases, and an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 0.734 with 73 points. He was the only one among the eight players who were nominated in shortstop position who had high physical burden, and ranked third in stolen bases.
Oh has a batting average of 0.268 with eight homers, 62 RBIs and 16 stolen bases with 65 points and an OPS of 0.767. He is slightly ahead of Park in terms of on-base percentage and slugging percentage, but lags behind Park in overall batting performance.
In defense, Park Chan-ho pitched 1,042 ⅔ as a shortstop, slightly ahead of Oh Ji-hwan, who pitched 1,010 ⅔. In defense rate, Park Chan-ho’s 0.973 and Oh Ji-hwan’s 0.970, respectively, show little difference.
The two shared the shortstop category in the KBO defense award, which was newly established this year.
The KBO Defensive Award was decided by adding 75% of the voting score and 25% of the defensive record score, which were set by 11 people per team, including coaches, nine coaches, and the general manager. Park Chan-ho and Oh Ji-hwan tied with 87.5 points side by side.
Oh Ji-hwan had a voting score of 75 and a defensive score of 12.5, while Park Chan-ho had a voting score of 66.67 and a defensive score of 20.83.
However, Oh Ji-hwan has a “winning premium.”
The Golden Glove winners will be selected through voting by media officials including reporters, photojournalists, producers of broadcasting companies, announcers, and commentators who are in charge of this season’s KBO League. The voting took place from April 29 to March 1, when the Korean Series ended.
Oh took the lead in LG’s first win in 29 years. He led the team as captain and was named MVP in the Korean Series.
On the other hand, KIA, which includes Park Chan-ho, failed to advance to the postseason this year, staying in sixth place in the regular season.
As a close race is expected, attention is also focusing on whether the record of the minimum margin of victory will be rewritten. The record of the minimum margin of victory in the Golden Glove history is two votes. Joy and sorrow were mixed by two votes in the catcher category in 2010, the designated hitter category in 2001, the catcher category in 1994, and the second baseman category in 1983. 토토사이트