Wiz slugger Ahn Hyun-min itching to make Korean Series debut

By virtue of finishing first in the regular season in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), the KT Wiz earned themselves a bye to the Korean Series and, with that, three weeks to rest and practice.

They have not played since their final regular-season contest on Oct. 12. And with the Korean Series opener against the Samsung Lions set for Tuesday at their home stadium in Suwon, just south of Seoul, Wiz slugger Ahn Hyun-min said he could hardly wait any longer.

"I am tired of waiting," Ahn said in his pregame media scrum at KT Wiz Park, about three hours before the 6:30 p.m. first pitch. "Even these next three hours will be a pain. It is about time we played. I feel like we just had another round of training camp while we were waiting."

Ahn, who won the Rookie of the Year award in 2025 after hitting 22 homers in 112 games, was limited to 14 homers in 94 games in an injury-plagued sophomore campaign. The usual outfielder will serve as designated hitter in Tuesday's game.

"With all the time off we had, I think we are as well prepared as we can be" Ahn said. "I am not sure being this anxious to play will help me or hurt me. But I am not nervous at all. Maybe I would feel some jitters if I play in the outfield but I guess the manager didn't want me out there feeling all nervous."

The Wiz will host the first two games of this best-of-seven affair, and the Lions will get the next two games, plus Game 5 if the series goes that far, in the southeastern city of Daegu. Then Suwon will have the final two games of the series.

When the Wiz won their first Korean Series title in 2021, they had to play all the games at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul as the neutral venue because of COVID-19 restrictions. This year, they have a chance to clinch the title on home turf either in Game 6 or Game 7, but Ahn said he wants to get the job done before it gets to that point.

"If we are forced to play the sixth game here, then there will be a lot of pressure on us," Ahn said. "The goal is to finish off the series in Daegu."