Tigers starter eager to enjoy 'adrenaline rush' of 1st KBO postseason game

By Yoo Jee-ho

GWANGJU, Oct. 18 (Yonhap) -- It has been seven years since right-hander Adam Oller last played in a postseason game, and it came in the U.S. minor leagues.

Now pitching for the Kia Tigers in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), Oller is set to make his South Korean postseason debut Sunday afternoon against the LG Twins in Game 2 of the best-of-five first round.

While speaking with Yonhap News Agency on Saturday, Oller was trying to soak in the experience.

"I am excited. I think it is going to be a lot of fun. Obviously, I am seeing all the stuff getting set up," Oller said, as he looked around the stands at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in the southwestern of Gwangju, with postseason banners and team flags being brought out by cheerleaders. "It seems like it is going to be a very large spectacle. The way I look at it is I am trying to treat it as any other game. At the end of the day, you still got to throw well and you still got to win. But with that being said, I am going to enjoy the adrenaline rush of all the fans and everything."

Oller joined the Tigers in 2025, a year after they won the Korean Series title, and the team missed the postseason entirely in Oller's first season.

This year, they finished third in the regular season to earn a bye to this stage. Oller had a big hand in that turnaround, as he finished second overall with a 3.13 ERA and fourth with 180 strikeouts.

Oller went 2-1 with a 2.40 ERA in five regular-season starts against the Twins this year. He faced them more than any other opponent in 2026, which Oller said will force him to stay on his toes.

In 2025, Oller faced the Twins three times and pitched to a 2.37 ERA.

"In my KBO career in general, including last year, I have done pretty well against LG, so that is nice," he said. "But at the same time, you got to be on top of your game because they have seen me a lot. The nice thing about facing them a lot is I should know how to pitch them but you are going to have to get a little creative with things. Tomorrow, it is going to be challenging but it will be a lot of fun."

Oller did not give up any home run to the Twins last year but allowed three this year, including one to their top slugger and his close friend, Austin Dean.

"I have played and trained with him in the offseason. We have seen each other quite a bit. It will be a lot of fun getting to face him in the postseason setting," Oller said.

He also listed Moon Bo-gyeong and Moon Jeong-bin as other dangerous hitters for the Twins.

Moon Bo-gyeong hit only 10 homers in an injury-plagued regular season this year, but had at least 20 homers and 100 RBIs in each of the past two seasons. Moon Jeong-bin ranked second among all rookies this year with 19 home runs and 66 RBIs while playing just 91 games.

Dean, Moon Jeong-bin and Moon Bo-gyeong batted third, fourth and fifth in Saturday's game and are expected to do so again Sunday.

Oller was also wary of the Twins' speed, with Park Hae-min being their top stealing threat with 42 swipes in the regular season that put him in third place.

"The second they get on, they are going to try to steal and they are going to try to manufacture runs that way," Oller said. "It is going to be obviously just like any other game: limit base runners but really try to focus on the 3-4-5 hitters and keep damage to a minimum."

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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