Yang Eui-ji sets KBO All-Star voting record; starting lineups announced

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, June 24 (Yonhap) -- Doosan Bears catcher Yang Eui-ji has topped the All-Star voting in South Korean baseball with a record total of votes.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) unveiled the starting lineups for its annual All-Star Game on Wednesday.

Representatives from the league's 10 teams will be split to two sides: the Bears, the Samsung Lions, the Lotte Giants, the KT Wiz and the SSG Landers for Team Dream, and the LG Twins, the Kia Tigers, the Hanwha Eagles, the Kiwoom Heroes and the NC Dinos for Team Nanum. The game will be played at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on July 11. The 23,750-seat stadium will be demolished after this season.

Yang, widely considered the best two-way catcher of his generation, led all players with 2,605,510 votes, shattering the previous record of 1,786,837 votes earned by Eagles reliever Kim Seo-hyeon last year.

This year, 11 players earned over 2 million votes from fans.

The starting lineups were put together with votes from fans and also fellow players in the following positions and roles: starting pitcher, middle reliever, closer, catcher, first baseman, second baseman, third baseman, shortstop, three outfield positions and designated hitter.

Yang garnered 187 votes from his 394 peers, for the total voting points of 50.95.

Yang became the third catcher in KBO history to lead All-Star fan voting at least twice, having first done so in 2018. By earning his 15th All-Star selection, Yang pulled into a tie with two other players, with KT Wiz outfielder Kim Hyun-soo leading the way with 16 All-Star appearances.

Yang has emerged out of an early season hitting slump, having raised his batting average from .223 at the end of April to .255 through Tuesday. He is batting .306 with six home runs so far this month.

For Team Dream, Bears starter Gwak Been, Lions reliever Lee Seung-min and Bears closer Lee Young-ha formed the pitching trio. This is the first appearance in the All-Star starting lineup for all three.

The infielders are: Lions first baseman Lewin Diaz, Bears second baseman Park Jun-soon, Landers third baseman Choi Jeong and Bears shortstop Park Chan-ho.

Park Jun-soon, in his second season, earned his first All-Star nod, while Choi extended his own record with his 10th appearance in the All-Star starting lineup.

Koo Ja-wook of the Lions, Jung Soo-bin of the Bears and Choi Won-jun of the Wiz are the three outfielders for Team Dream. Choi will play in his first All-Star Game, and Koo will be in for his 10th appearance.

Lions slugger Choi Hyoung-woo will be the designated hitter. He lost out to Son Ah-seop of the Bears in fan voting by nearly 600,000 votes, but earned a record 278 votes from his peers to earn his ninth All-Star selection.

Three Tigers pitchers will represent Team Nanum: starter Adam Oller, reliever Jung Hai-young and closer Sung Yeong-tak.

Oller was chosen as an All-Star reserve by managers last year but missed the festivities due to a shoulder injury.

Eagles catcher Heo In-seo will make his first All-Star appearance. He is the first Eagles catcher in 36 years to start an All-Star Game.

Nanum infielders are: Twins first baseman Austin Dean, Dinos second baseman Park Min-woo, Tigers third baseman Kim Do-yeong and Dinos shortstop Kim Ju-won.

Dean led all players with 54.04 points, thanks to 2,392,848 votes from fans and 267 votes from his peers. He has now made the All-Star team in all four years in the KBO.

Park Hae-min of the Twins, Moon Hyun-bin of the Eagles and Park Jae-hyun of the Tigers are the three outfielders.

Park Jae-hyun, a sophomore enjoying a breakout season, held off Yonathan Perlaza of the Eagles by 0.61 point for the final outfield spot.

Eagles slugger Kang Baek-ho was voted the designated hitter for Team Nanum.

By clubs, the Bears led the league with six starters, followed by the Tigers with five and the Lions with four each.

The Kiwoom Heroes and the Lotte Giants, who have been stuck at or near the bottom of the standings all season, are the only two clubs without an All-Star starter.

Managers for the two sides, Landers skipper Lee Sung-yong for Dream and Twins manager Youm Kyoung-youb for Nanum, will each select 13 reserves.