DataBaseball
2026

Birthplaces · Asia · 2015–2026

🇰🇷MLB Players from South Korea

Every major leaguer born in South Korea who took a plate appearance or threw a pitch in a published season, with what they have done since 2015 — and who is playing now.

Players
18
2015–2026
Active in 2026
7
Total dbWAR
55.6
Home runs
324
Strikeouts
1,027
1,122.0 IP
Batters / pitchers
13 / 5

Notable

Superlatives over the seasons published here, not over whole careers.

Most dbWAR13.7Hyun Jin Ryu2016–2023Most home runs101Shin-Soo Choo2,951 PAMost strikeouts641Hyun Jin Ryu711.1 IPBest season4.9 WARHyun Jin Ryu2019First to the majors2005Shin-Soo ChooHardest-hit ball112.9 mphJi Man Choi2021Youngest in 202627Jihwan BaeMost seasons here11Rob Refsnyder2015–2026
Most common birthplaceSeoul8 players

The All-South Korean Team

The best player born in South Korea at each position since 2015, by the dbWAR he produced there. Positions nobody has filled are left open.

C—no catcher yet
1BJi Man Choi2016–2023 · 51 HR · .2364.5dbWAR2BHyeseong Kim2025–2026 · 3 HR · .2800.9dbWAR
3B—no third base yet
SSHa-Seong Kim2021–2026 · 35 HR · .2265.5dbWARLFRob Refsnyder2015–2026 · 14 HR · .2531.9dbWARCFJung Hoo Lee2024–2026 · 10 HR · .2653.5dbWARRFShin-Soo Choo2015–2020 · 51 HR · .2656.5dbWARDHByungHo Park2016 · 12 HR · .191-0.2dbWAR

And on the mound

SPHyun Jin Ryu2016–2023 · 3.33 ERA12.9dbWARSPKwang Hyun Kim2020–2021 · 2.97 ERA1.7dbWARRPSeunghwan Oh2016–2019 · 3.31 ERA3.4dbWAR

How this is picked. Each player is filed at the one position he appeared at most often — so a shortstop who spent two years at third is a shortstop, and cannot hold both slots — and the spot goes to whoever produced the most dbWAR there. The figure on a card is therefore the value at that position rather than the career total shown elsewhere on this page: they differ for anyone who moved. Starting and relieving are counted separately for the same reason, on the share of each season's appearances that were starts. A slot needs 100 plate appearances or 20 innings to be claimed at all, which keeps a September call-up from becoming a first baseman. 12 position players are eligible here, with 2 starters and 2 relievers.

In the majors now

7 South Korean-born players were on a major-league roster in 2026. Every column sorts.

Batting, 2026.
Jung Hoo LeeSFRF28142576105712.276.318.4041011.7
Hyeseong KimLADSS27401311115.259.323.328840.4
Jihwan BaeMIL2B2744001.500.667.5002600.1
Sung-Mun SongSD2B305814611613.185.287.24254-0.1
Ha-Seong KimATLSS3141128092.123.219.1323-0.8
Rob RefsnyderSEADH35531294110.140.211.25424-1.0
Pitching, 2026.
Woo-Suk GoMIN28404.00059.008.602.50-0.2

Clubs in 2026LAD 1SD 1SEA 1SF 1MIN 1ATL 1

The full 2026 leaderboards filter by birthplace too: batting · pitching — pick several countries at once there.

Since 2015

Career totals over the published seasons, ranked by dbWAR.

Batters, by dbWAR since the first published season.
Shin-Soo Choo2015–202062,95166110131549.26312.3
Ha-Seong Kim2021–202662,2954725222686.2359.0
Ji Man Choi2016–202381,841367672386.2345.5
Jung Hoo Lee2024–202631,3513352012024.2705.1
Rob Refsnyder2015–2026111,6793593716522.2463.0
Hyeseong Kim2025–202623017542818.2711.3
Hyun Soo Kim2016–201725851417361.2731.2
Jihwan Bae2022–2026551810424438.2250.4
Dae-Ho Lee201613177414490.2530.4
Hoy Park2021–20222210365202.2010.1
Sung-Mun Song202611462311613.185-0.1
ByungHo Park201612444112241.191-0.2
Jae-Gyun Hwang20171578150.154-0.3
Pitchers, by dbWAR since the first published season.
Hyun Jin Ryu2016–20238711.15016413.3313.7
Seunghwan Oh2016–20194225.216422523.313.4
Kwang Hyun Kim2020–20212145.21021042.971.7
Woo-Suk Go202614.00059.00-0.2
Hyeon-Jong Yang2021135.100255.60-0.6

By season

How many were in the majors each year, and what they produced.

SeasonPlayersBattersPitchersPAHRIPSOdbWAR
20267611,114164.050.0
20255501,212250.005.6
20244401,016240.004.3
20235411,3572652.0384.2
20226511,2753027.0166.8
202176394324311.02484.3
20205323068106.0962.9
20194321,21444201.01799.8
20185421,01933150.21687.3
20177621,08626186.01701.5
20168821,4244484.11074.0
2015220700240.004.8

Where in South Korea

Birth cities with more than one major leaguer, most first.

8Seoul44% of the country
2Busan11% of the country
2Incheon11% of the country

About this page

18 major-league players born in South Korea appear in this archive, between 2015 and 2026. 7 of them were on a major-league roster in 2026, up from 2 in 2015. Together they are worth 55.6 dbWAR, on 324 home runs and 1,027 strikeouts thrown.

The most valuable of them by our own measure is Hyun Jin Ryu, worth 13.7 dbWAR across 2016–2023. His best year was 2019, at 4.9 WAR. Shin-Soo Choo has been in the majors longest of anyone here, since 2005.

Shin-Soo Choo has hit the most home runs, 101. Hyun Jin Ryu has thrown the most strikeouts, 641. The hardest ball anyone from here has struck came off Ji Man Choi's bat at 112.9 mph, in 2021. These are totals over the seasons published here rather than whole careers: a player who debuted before 2015 arrives mid-career, and his numbers start where the archive does.

Seoul has produced 8 of them, more than anywhere else in South Korea. In 2026 they are spread across 6 clubs, one each — among them Los Angeles Dodgers.

Country here means country of birth, taken from each player's biographical record. It is not nationality and not who a player has represented internationally — the three disagree often enough to matter, and birthplace is the one this data actually holds. Every rate statistic and every dbWAR figure is computed from play-by-play using constants measured from each season's own data, so the numbers are era-correct without being copied from anywhere. See the derivation →

Elsewhere

Every birthplace · 2026 batting leaders · 2026 pitching leaders · every player · every club · the 2026 standings.