Doosan Bears ace Kwak Bin has been named the starting pitcher for Game 1 of the wild card series, taking on the burden of the team's fate in the final autumn games at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, which will disappear into history at the end of this year.
LG Twins, who finished fourth in the regular season, and fifth-place Doosan will play Game 1 of the wild card series at 6:30 p.m. on the 14th at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. Doosan settled on Kwak early as its Game 1 starter, while LG will send out foreign pitcher Carlos Carrasco.
Kwak's numbers this season merit his billing as the league's top ace. In 27 games he went 11-7 with 197 strikeouts and a 2.24 earned run average, finishing first in both strikeouts and ERA to claim two pitching titles.
What stands out is that Doosan barely squeezed into the postseason in fifth place. Taking two individual titles without the backing of team results means Kwak essentially carried the Doosan pitching staff on his own.
Kwak was once dogged by the assessment that he faltered in big games. The stage where he shed that label himself was last month's 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. Kwak started both the opener against Taiwan and the final against Japan, allowing one run over 12 1/3 innings for a 0.73 ERA and delivering South Korea's fifth straight title at the competition.
The situation does not favor Doosan. The team was badly outmatched in head-to-head play with LG this season, going 4-11-1. Under wild card rules, fourth-place LG advances to the semi-playoffs with either a win or a tie in Game 1, while Doosan must win both of a maximum two games. In effect, losing Game 1 ends its season on the spot. That is why the weight on Kwak's shoulders is so heavy.
There are variables, though. LG battled KIA for third place until the final game of the regular season before slipping into the wild card round, leaving the team drained in both stamina and momentum.
Doosan, by contrast, locked up fifth place early and has been preparing for this game while sorting out its pitching staff. The club has lined up Choi Min-seok behind Kwak as its Game 2 card, aiming to blunt LG's attack with a one-two punch.
The LG starter Kwak will face is Carrasco, who joined in August as a replacement foreign player. With 112 career wins in Major League Baseball, he holds the record for most MLB victories among foreign pitchers who have passed through the KBO League, and he posted a 3.86 ERA in three MLB postseason appearances during his time with the Cleveland Guardians.
As it happens, Doosan was the opponent in Carrasco's KBO debut. He left a powerful impression that day, carrying a perfect game into the seventh inning. For the Doosan lineup, he is an opponent who demands revenge, and for Kwak, a rival he must get past in a pitchers' duel.