The ‘Best 12’ for the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO All-Star Game have been finalized.
The KBO announced the Best 12, selected by fan and player votes, on June 26.
One thing stands out. These are the young national team players who will compete in the Hangzhou Asian Games in October. They made a strong showing in the All-Star voting. A total of seven Hangzhou players were named to the All-Star Best 12.
National team slugger Kium Lee Jung-hoo was the top vote-getter.
After leading from the midway point of the first and second fan polls, Lee was the overwhelming favorite to win both the fan poll and the player poll. It is only the second time in history that a player has topped both the fan vote and the player vote, joining Doosan’s Yang Yang-ji in 2018.
Kiwoom second baseman Kim Hye-sung and Hanwha third baseman Noh Shi-hwan were also named to the Best 12, as they were the overwhelming favorites in both the fan and player polls.
NC shortstop Kim Joo-won received overwhelming support from the fans, overtaking LG’s Oh Ji-hwan as the top shortstop. He finished second to Oh in the player voting. KIA bullpen phenom Choi Ji-min was also selected as the All-Star Middle Pitcher with overwhelming support from fans with over 1 million votes, beating out LG’s Park Myung-geun, who topped the player vote.
LOTTE starter Park Se-woong also received overwhelming fan support, beating out Doosan Alcantara and KT’s Go Young-pyo, who finished first and second in the player voting.
LG closer Ko Woo-seok was voted to the Best 12 by the players. Kia closer Jeong Hae-young, who was backed by his fans, beat Ball by just 0.38 points.
Meanwhile, there are a few players who didn’t make the cut, but topped the player vote.
KT reliever Park Young-hyun, who dreams of becoming the next Oh Seung-hwan, was the overwhelming favorite in the player poll, but was edged out by Lotte’s Goo Seung-min in the fan poll. Samsung second baseman Kim Ji-chan also topped the fan vote, but was only second to Lotte’s Ahn Chi-hong, who received more than 1 million votes.
SSG shortstop Park Sung-hyuk also secured nearly twice as many first-place votes as Lotte’s Noh Jin-hyuk in the player vote, but was unable to match the firepower of Lotte fans. SSG outfielder Choi Ji-hoon also secured enough votes to make the outfield big three, finishing third in the player poll, but lost out in the fan poll to finish fifth.안전놀이터
Getting a lot of votes in the squad poll is a sign of real recognition. It’s a testament to the quality of the young players who will be competing at the Hangzhou Asian Games. A well-chosen squad. It remains to be seen if it will translate into results in the fall.