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KBO-leading Landers seeking to build on momentum against top 2 teams from 2025

Published: 06 Apr. 2026, 15:30

SSG Landers' pitcher Kim Keon-woo [SSG LANDERS]

The SSG Landers have grabbed first place early in the new Korean baseball season by beating up non-postseason teams from last year.

Beginning Tuesday, the Landers will look to build on their momentum against the two contestants of the 2025 Korean Series: the Hanwha Eagles and the LG Twins.

The Landers have won four straight games, the longest active streak in the KBO, to shoot to the top of the standings with a 7-1-0 (wins-losses-ties) record. They also lead the KBO in runs with 68.

The Landers swept the Lotte Giants over their three-game weekend series, outscoring them 28-11. Before that, the Landers beat the Kiwoom Heroes in two out of three games, with a 22-15 advantage in runs.

The Heroes were the worst team in 2025, and the Giants ranked seventh among 10 clubs a season ago. The Landers took advantage of the soft pocket of their early schedule, and now they will go up against the two best teams from a season ago, who are both off to so-so starts in 2026.

The Eagles are 4-4-0. They are second in runs behind the Landers with 63, but their pitchers have given up the most runs in the league with 66. The team that led the KBO with a 3.55 ERA in 2025 is now at the bottom of that category with a 7.40 mark.

There could be some fireworks during the Landers-Eagles series.

Fans cheer on the LG Twins and KT Wiz at a KBO League game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Songpa District, southern Seoul, on March 29. [YONHAP]

Three Landers regulars are batting over .400, with shortstop Park Seong-han leading the league with a .533 (16-for-30) mark. Park and his teammate Guillermo Heredia are tied for the league lead with 11 RBIs, while Heredia and another Landers player, Ko Myeong-jun, share the KBO lead with three home runs apiece.

New Eagles slugger Kang Baek-ho also has 11 RBIs, and he is one of three Hanwha players with two home runs apiece.

After that series at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon, the Landers will drive east to Seoul to visit the Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium for a three-game set beginning Friday.

The Twins are also at 4-4-0, having recovered from some early pitching woes. After losing the first three games of the season, the Twins went on to take two out of three games against the Kia Tigers and then against the Heroes.

Kia Tigers third baseman Kim Do-yeong, second from right, stays crouched in pain after a diving catch attempt during a KBO regular-season game against the LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul on April 1. [YONHAP]

The Giants (2-6-0) have dropped six straight games, getting swept in back-to-back series, and will look to rebound with three games each against the KT Wiz and the Heroes.

The Giants have hit the most home runs in the KBO with 13, but they are ninth in runs scored with only 33.

The Tigers, also at 2-6-0, will host the Samsung Lions at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in the southern city of Gwangju to begin the new week. After winning the 2024 Korean Series title, the Tigers missed the postseason in 2025 with injuries to key players, including the 2024 regular-season MVP Kim Do-yeong. Kim is still trying to find his groove at the plate, having gone just 2-for-19 in April with no home runs or RBIs.

Another team stuck at 2-6-0, the Heroes, will visit the Doosan Bears to start this week at Jamsil before hosting the Giants over the weekend.

The KBO is off to a rousing start in ticket sales, averaging 19,489 fans per game through 40 games so far, up from 17,101 fans at the same point a year ago.

The league set a single-season attendance record in 2025 with over 12.3 million fans and is on pace to top that mark this year. The KBO said 29 out of those 40 games have sold out.

Yonhap