The season of baseball has come. The KBO League of 2025 professional baseball games will kick off at five stadiums nationwide on Tuesday. Last year's championship team, the KIA Tigers, will hold an official opening game against the NC Dinos in Gwangju, while the runner-up Samsung Lions will welcome the Kiwoom Heroes in Daegu. LG Twins and Lotte Giants will play at Jamsil in Seoul, SSG Landers and Doosan Bears in Incheon, and KT Wiz and Hanwha Eagles in Suwon. This year's opening game starting pitchers are all foreigners.안전놀이터

It is the second time in eight years and the first time in history that all 10 clubs have put a foreign pitcher in the opening game since 2017. Among the 10 players, five have already experienced the KBO League, and five have come to Korea for the first time. The KBO League opened the era of 10 million spectators for the first time in its history last season. This year, it is already foreshadowing an unusual box office boom. An average of 7,661 people visited the exhibition game that ended on the 18th and rewrote the previous record (7470 in 2012). The total number of spectators who entered 42 games was 321,763. The number of spectators in 46 games last year was 41 percent higher than that of spectators (227,329). On the 9th, for the first time ever in an exhibition game, it exceeded 70,000 daily spectators (71,288), boasting a fever.

Samsung Ariel Furado

born in 1996 / right hand / third year
Furado was the starting pitcher for the opening game of Kiwoom last year. This year, he will take the mound for the opening game again as a member of Samsung. Ironically, he played the most innings in the league for the past two consecutive seasons. He pitched well at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, where there are many home runs, with an ERA of 2.91 (five games). There is a clear reason why Samsung recruited him.

Kiwoom Kenny Rosenberg

1995 / Left hand / Newcomer
Kiwoom has filled two of its three foreign players with batters this year. Kiwoom is the only team that has a single foreign pitcher. Rosenberg should be more than an ace in the Kiwoom starting lineup, which is full of young prospects. He has particularly heavy shoulders since the first season of the KBO League. Citing a famous line from the movie "Spider-Man," he said, "Big power comes with great responsibility."

LG Yoni Chirinos

born in 1993 / right hand / newbie
Chirinos is a veteran player who has played 356 1/3 innings in 75 games in the Major League. He is good at controlling ball control and is capable of inducing grounders, and is responsible for long innings. His performance at exhibition games (nine hits and five runs allowed in eight innings) was not good, but LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop firmly believes in him. "He has many requirements as a good starting pitcher. He is sufficient to serve as the first starter."

Lotte Charlie Barnes

born in 1995 / left hand / fourth year
Barnes' nickname is "Left-handed + Grim Reaper." He has been accompanied by Lotte for four years this year. He played 12 games with a 3.62 ERA in 2022, 11 games with a 3.28 ERA in 2023, and 9 wins and a 3.35 ERA last year. He pitched in four exhibition games only once this year, and struck out seven during four innings. Manager Kim Tae-hyung put Barnes as the first starter without much hesitation.

KIA James Nail

born in 1993 / right hand / second year
He is the ace of Kia, the unified Korean team that won the championship last year. He ranked No. 1 in ERA in the regular season (2.53) and started games 1 and 4 of the Korean Series, displaying good pitching. Rejecting love calls from major league teams, he stayed at Kia and is taking the lead in its bid to win its second consecutive title. Kia coach Lee Bum-ho picked Nail, who finished adapting to the Korean mound after agonizing over the two foreign pitchers, as the starting pitcher for the opening game.

Logan Allen, NC

1997 / Left hand / Newcomer
The NC Dinosaurs, which "reversely exported" Kyle Hart to the Major League, filled the vacancy with Logan, a left-handed pitcher. Logan is a Finnes pitcher who plays with more breaking balls and ball control than his speed. He pitched in a total of 45 games (15 starts) in the big league, and played in 12 games last season. He ousted Riley Thompson, who threw a fastball with the maximum speed of 159 kilometers per hour, to secure the starting position for the opening game.

SSG Drew Anderson

born in 1994 / right hand / second year
Anderson joined the team belatedly in May last year as a substitute. Still, he garnered 11 wins, giving a strong impression to the team. Notably, he excels in strikeouts. The number of strikeouts per nine innings was 12.29. He also posted a record of 100 strikeouts (65 innings) in the minimum number of innings in history. In his last appearance at an exhibition game, he allowed seven runs (six earned runs) in five innings, but his fastballs at the speed of 150 kilometers per hour remain powerful.

Doosan's Call Irvin

born in 1994 / left hand / newbie
Irvin boasts the most splendid career among new foreign pitchers. He played as a full-time major leaguer last season and won 10 games for the Oakland Athletics in 2021. His former team had longed for him, but Doosan recruited him and made him envious. He also displayed good performance in exhibition games. He allowed 10 strikeouts and no runs in a total of seven innings in two games. He is the most reliable supporter of the team.

KT Enmanuel de Heissus

born in 1996 / left hand / second year
Heyesus made his KBO League debut as Kiwoom's second starter last year. He will start his second season as KT's first starter this year. His performance has been proven. He has won 13 games in the lowest-ranking team and ranked second with 178 strikeouts. KT, looking for a new foreign pitcher, quickly snatched him up when Kiwoom gave up renewing its contract with Heyesus. "Watch him," KT manager Lee Kang-chul said with confidence.

Hanhwa Coordination Ponce

born in 1994 / right hand / newbie
Ponce is the tallest pitcher (1 meter 98 centimeters) in the Korean pro baseball league this year. Having played in the Japanese pro baseball league for the past three seasons, he has a good understanding of Asian baseball. At the exhibition game, he pitched fastballs with speeds of up to 155 kilometers per hour, allowing a total of nine innings with 10 strikeouts and no runs. Ryu Hyun-jin, Hanwha's iconic ace, is in such good condition that he has given up the starting pitcher for the opening game. He is the key player who will lead the Hanwha Eagles to the fall baseball league.