SIS is pleased to announce the winners of the 2023 KBO Fielding Bible Awards. This marks the 4th season that we have honored the best defensive players in KBO. The awards are chosen by a panel of experts who consider statistical analysis, the eye test, and any other factors that they wish to utilize. 

 We are also announcing the winner of our inaugural KBO Defensive Player of the Year award.

 This year’s winners are: 

Defensive Player of the Year

Kiwoom Heroes second baseman Hye-Seong Kim is our inaugural KBO Defensive Player of the Year as well as the winner at his position. Kim had the most Defensive Runs Saved among the second basemen who qualified for the Fielding Bible Awards.

Kim also led second basemen in Good Fielding Plays, a data point we track that includes plays that appear to have a high degree of difficulty, along with things like keeping the ball on the infield to prevent baserunner advancement.

Kim has won the Fielding Bible Award at second base 3 times in 4 years.

Other Winners

Three former major leaguers won Fielding Bible Awards: LG Twins first baseman Austin Dean, KT Wiz left fielder Anthony Alford, and Lotte Giants pitcher Charlie Barnes. 

Dean had played only 6 games at first base as a major leaguer and 32 as a minor leaguer but succeeded in a full-time role there in his first season in KBO for the league champions. Dean, Alford, and Barnes each led the pool of candidates at their respective positions in Defensive Runs Saved.

Joining Dean were a pair of Twins teammates, center fielder Hae-min Park, and outfielder Sung-ju Moon, who won for multi-position excellence. This marked the 3rd straight year that LG had multiple Fielding Bible Award winners.

The other KBO team with multiple players selected was the Hanwha Eagles, who were represented by third baseman Si-hwan Roh and right fielder Jin-young Lee.

Joining Kim as a three-time Fielding Bible Award winner is LG Twins center fielder Hae-min Park. Doosan Bears catcher Eui-ji Yang won for the 2nd time.

“Desire, physical skill, mental acuity and the endurance to perform at an elite level for the duration of a major league season,” said SIS VP, Baseball, Bobby Scales. “That is what defines an elite defender. These 10 individuals have displayed elite defense and then some over the course of the KBO season.” 

Our expert panel that helped pick the winners were KBO media: Jeeho Yoo (Yonhap News) and Dan Kurtz (MyKBO.Net). Our Defensive Runs Saved stat was used to assist with the voting process.

The history of the KBO Fielding Bible Awards (which began in 2020) can be found online here.