The 2026 KBO League postseason opens at Suwon KT Wiz Park with regular-season champion kt wiz hosting the second-place Samsung Lions in the best-of-seven Korean Series opener. Records show that teams winning Game 1 of the Korean Series go on to claim the championship 73.8% of the time, establishing an immediate statistical imperative for both clubs as the series gets underway.
Championship Pedigree And Second-Half Surge At Suwon
Entering the championship round, kt wiz put together a dominant second-half campaign that featured a 10-game winning streak and a .754 second-half winning percentage across 43 wins, 14 losses, and four ties. Records show the club finished the regular season with 90 wins, 49 losses, and five ties for a .647 winning percentage, securing the top seed. Meanwhile, the Samsung Lions finished second in the regular standings with an 83-win, 58-loss, 3-tie record (.589) before defeating the Kia Tigers three games to two in a grueling five-game playoff series to advance to the Korean Series.
Offensive Firepower And Lineup Depth Comparisons
At the plate, both finalists bring formidable offensive metrics into the matchup. Regular-season data indicates kt wiz led all clubs with a .286 team batting average and 1,441 total hits, alongside a league-leading 139 team RBIs. Samsung countered with a .273 team batting average and 1,350 hits while out-homering their opponents 140 to 121. Key hitters bolstering the kt lineup include Sam Hilliard, Choi Won-jun, Kim Hyun-soo, and An Hyun-min, who recently returned from injury.
Samsung’s batting order features .371 hitter Koo Ja-wook, Choi Hyung-woo—who hit the highest-age home run in postseason history during the playoff series—foreign hitter Lewin Díaz, and Kim Ji-chan, who recorded three hits and three RBIs in the fifth game of the playoff series.
Pitching Rotations And Opening Game Matchups
On the mound, the two finalists present distinct organizational strengths. The kt pitching staff relies heavily on domestic depth, featuring multi-win leader Ko Young-pyo and So Hyung-jun in the starting rotation, alongside relievers Son Dong-hyun, Bae Je-seung, Oh Won-seok, and closer Park Young-hyun, who notched 30 saves. Conversely, Samsung’s pitching relies prominently on foreign starters, anchored by Ariel Jurado—who secured victories in Games 2 and 5 of the playoff series—and Chris Fedde, who posted a 7-3 record with a 2.95 ERA after joining the team midway through the year. Across the regular season, kt finished with a 4.14 team ERA, ranking second overall, while Samsung placed fourth with a 4.31 ERA.
Game 1 Starting Pitchers And Media Day Psychological Warfare
During the official media day held at the Ramada Plaza Suwon hotel, kt manager Lee Kang-chol and Samsung manager Park Jin-man named Davis Daniel and Choi Won-tae as their respective Game 1 starters. Daniel joined kt as a replacement pitcher on July 30, posting a 5-2 record and a 2.13 ERA across 10 regular-season outings, though he did not face Samsung during the regular campaign. Choi Won-tae finished the regular season at 7-5 with a 4.68 ERA over 24 appearances, but experienced a brief outing in Game 3 of the playoff series, allowing two runs in 1 and 2/3 innings before an early exit.
When asked by media members to predict how many games the Korean Series would last, kt representatives including manager Lee, Jang Seong-woo, and So Hyung-jun raised six fingers, while Samsung manager Park, Koo Ja-wook, and Won Tae-in signaled for five games.
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