‘Home run and RBI king’ Noh Si-hwan wins ‘Player of the Year’ as voted by his teammates
Professional baseball players voted Hanwha Eagles center fielder Roh Si-hwan, 22, as the best player of the 2023 season.
Noh won the Player of the Year award at the 2023 Magoo Magoo Real Glove Awards, held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on January 1.
The Real Glove Awards are the only Korean award ceremony where the winners are voted on by the players themselves.
The Korea Professional Baseball Players Association (KPA) selected Noh, Young-pyo Ko (KT WIZ), Kim Hye-sung (Kiwoom Heroes), Yang Yang-ji (Doosan Bears), and Hong Chang-ki (LG Twins) as finalists, all of whom finished in the top five in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) in this year’s KBO regular season, and nearly 700 Korean professional baseball players voted online for Noh.
Noh’s performance this season has been nothing short of spectacular. He played in 131 games this year, batting .298 with 31 home runs, 101 RBIs, and a WAR of 6.83. He led the league in home runs and RBIs, and was second in on-base percentage (.541).
He also became the second youngest player in history to achieve 30 home runs and 100 RBIs at the same time, after Doosan’s Lee Seung-yeop.
Upon receiving the trophy, Noh said, “I’m grateful for the undeserved award,” and added, “I think it means I should do better next year. I will try to do better next season with a humble attitude,” he said.
Position winners were also selected based on defensive metrics.
Starting pitcher Ko Young-pyo, relief pitcher Park Young-hyun (KT), catcher Park Dong-won (LG), first baseman Yang Seok-hwan (Doosan), second baseman Kim Hye-sung, third baseman Heo Kyung-min (Doosan), shortstop Kim Joo-won (NC Dinos), and outfielders Park Hae-min, Hong Chang-ki (LG), and Jung Soo-bin (Doosan) were honored. 먹튀검증