Who will be the Most Valuable Player (MVP) with the best performance in the 2023 season?
On the 18th, the KBO announced the selection of 16 players with excellent performances, including title holders in each category, as MVP candidates for this season. On the pitcher side, there are a total of eight players, including SSG Landers’ Seo Jin-yong, Kiwoom Heroes’ Ariel Jurado, KT Wiz’s Go Young-pyo, Park Young-hyun, and William Cuevas, NC Dinos’ Eric Peddy, Samsung Lions’ David Buchanan, and Doosan Bears’ Raul Alcantara. The fielders include SSG Choi Jeong, Kiwoom Kim Hye-seong, LG Twins Austin Dean and Hong Chang-ki, NC Son A-seop, Samsung Koo Ja-wook, Doosan Su-bin Jeong, and Hanwha Eagles Noh Si-hwan.
There are a lot of candidates, but in reality, it is expected to be a two-way race. It is a match between the best pitcher and hitter. Peddy won three gold medals in the pitching category, and Noh Si-hwan won two gold medals in the hitting category.
Beyond this season, Peddie has shown the most outstanding performance among pitchers who have played in the KBO League in recent years. His season record is 20 wins and 6 losses, an earned run average (ERA) of 2.00, and 209 strikeouts in 30 games (180.1 innings). Most wins, ERA, and strikeouts are all first in the league. In particular, his performance in terms of multiple wins and strikeouts attracts attention, and it is the first time in 37 years since Sun Dong-yeol in 1986 that a pitcher has achieved 20 wins and 200 strikeouts in one season in the KBO League. He is the first foreign pitcher.
Peddie recorded 5 strikeouts and no runs in 5.2 innings against the Gwangju KIA Tigers on the 16th, his last appearance in the regular season. He was kicked in the bottom of the 6th inning after being hit on the right forearm by a batted ball with 2 outs, but if he had kept 0.1 more scoreless innings, he could have achieved the long-awaited ERA of 1 point. However, due to an unexpected injury, he went off the mound with only one out and had to be satisfied with an ERA of 2.00.
Peddy’s likely opponent is Noh Si-hwan, who is the only KBO league hitter this season to have 30 home runs and 100 RBIs. In 131 games this season, he received an outstanding report card with a batting average of 0.298, 31 home runs, 101 RBI, and 85 runs scored. He also recorded a slugging percentage of 0.541 (2nd), establishing himself as a hitter feared by opposing pitchers.
Noh Si-hwan was called up to the national team for the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games at the end of the season, and despite the absence, he won his first home run title with 31 home runs. In terms of RBI, he was the only one among all batters in the league to reach triple digits. Second place is KIA foreign hitter Socrates Brito with 96 RBI.스포츠토토
The 2023 season MVP will be revealed at the KBO Awards Ceremony after the end of the postseason, along with an award for first place in each category of the KBO League and Futures (Second Division) League.