So who's in third place? It's a crazy chase because you can't run away. It's an all-time war with six teams

Aug 31, 2025

So who's in third place? It's a crazy chase because you can't run away. It's an all-time war with six teams
Samsung-Hanwha match held at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 30th. Samsung players, who won 4-0, are sharing their joy. Daejeon = Reporter Jeong Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.8.30/



As the teams that took the lead failed to escape, the lower-ranked teams are chasing 'crazy'. No one really knows the ranking fight.

In fact, it is not unreasonable to say that the ranking to the second place is over. No. 1 LG Twins and No. 2 Hanwha Eagles are 5.5 games apart, and No. 2 Hanwha is saving the last flame, but it is practically too much for other teams to aim for No. 2 or No. 1. The second-ranked Hanwha and the third-ranked SSG Landers are separated by nine games as of the 30th. Given the number of regular season games remaining for the rest of the month, it's almost impossible to turn around.

The problem is from third place. The postseason of the KBO League is up to fifth place. The fourth and fifth-place teams will face the third-place team in a semi-playoff match after the wild card match. The team that can experience autumn baseball is up to fifth place.




But even the third place is still unknown. This is because almost six teams are entangled in the fight for third to fifth place. Considering that the ninth-ranked Doosan Bears, which had been chasing hard, are one step behind by more than three games from eighth place, there are six teams, including SSG, Lotte, Samsung, KT, NC and KIA.

So who's in third place? It's a crazy chase because you can't run away. It's an all-time war with six teams
On the 16th, the match between LG and SSG at SSG Landers Field in Incheon won 10-7. SSG players sharing the joy of victory. Incheon= Reporter Huh Sang-wook's wook@sportschosun.com/2025.08.16/
SSG and Lotte, which took the lead, failed to escape. Lotte, which had remained in third place all the time and the gap was quite wide, lost third place while losing 12 consecutive games in August. In the last 10 games, his performance has slowed down with three wins, two draws and five losses, making it difficult to regain the third place.

While Lotte is shaking, SSG, which was ranked third due to its poor performance, is also unable to escape. Since becoming third place, it has only been 'Loosing Series' for the second consecutive time, and has been flat at a winning percentage of 50% with 5 wins and 5 losses in the last 10 games. From SSG's point of view, it is 'Best Scenario' to secure the third place by stacking wins as quickly as possible as the opportunity has come. It will be easier to prepare for the postseason only when we move away from the ranking competition early. But now he's not running away at all.




The same goes for sixth-place KT and seventh-place NC, which have 5 wins and 5 losses in 10 games side by side. In the midst of this, Samsung, which has risen back to fifth place, is gaining momentum. He is second only to LG with eight wins and two losses in the last 10 games and a monthly team win rate of 0.560 in August.

So who's in third place? It's a crazy chase because you can't run away. It's an all-time war with six teams
The KBO League KT Wiz and KIA Tigers match held at Suwon KT Wiz Park on the 29th. The winning KIA players are happy. Suwon = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.08.29/
The ranking fight is again in the fog as Samsung moves up in a situation where everyone has not run away or fallen too much.

On top of that, KIA, which has recently slipped to eighth place due to consecutive losses, is also an opponent to pay attention to until the end. Although he lost despite playing Adam Oler on the 30th, the lineup, which has been stagnant with three consecutive wins, seems to be reviving. KIA is also 2.5 games apart from fifth-place Samsung, and the ranking is not guaranteed.




The coaches of the teams currently competing for the rankings say in unison that `the ranking fight is likely to go all the way to the end of the regular season.' The KBO League will begin its remaining game schedule from September, and the final third to fifth place is expected to reveal a clear outline until the end of September, when the remaining game schedule ends. Lotte, which played 126 games until the 30th, has the fewest games left with 18 games, and NC, which played 119 games, has the most games left with 25. In particular, a team that wins more matches between competing teams in the rankings is bound to be advantageous. It is expected that the determination of the postseason team will be known only until the end.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.