There are designated hitters who don't wear gloves, but one pitcher? When will the segmentation be realized

Oct 10, 2025

2024 Golden Glove winners by position. Sports Chosun DB

There's still only one pitcher. When will the value of bullpen pitchers be recognized.

KBO announced the list of Golden Glove candidates for the 2025 season on the 9th. At the same time, voting for media officials has already begun. Until last year, voting was held after the end of the Korean Series, but the voting schedule was adjusted so that all candidates could be evaluated fairly for regular season performance. As voting began immediately after the start of the postseason, regular season performance was further highlighted. It's a positive change.

There are a total of 83 Golden Glove nominees this year. Of these, 10 will be awarded, 1 for each position (3 outfielders only).

For pitchers, the criteria for selecting candidates can meet the stipulated innings or meet one of the criteria of 10 wins or more, 30 saves, and 30 holds or more. For catchers and fielders, all players who have played defense more than 720 innings (number of team games X 5 innings) at the position will be on the candidate list. Designated hitters must take the batter's box with a ⅔ of 297 at-bats or more as designated hitters to qualify as candidates.

Samsung Koo Ja-wook, who won the Golden Glove Outfielder category last year. Sports Chosun DB

In addition, players who win individual titles for each position are automatically registered as candidates regardless of their requirements. However, if the standard for defensive innings is not met in any position due to participation in several positions only for the title holder, he or she will be a candidate for the position with the most defensive innings. If it is necessary to compare defensive innings and designated batter's at-bats, they are registered as candidates for positions with a high ratio compared to each criterion.

This year, 33 candidates for pitchers, seven catchers, six first basemen, five second basemen, six third basemen, eight shortstop, 16 outfielders and two designated hitters were listed.

When calculating the number of candidates and the competition rate for awards, the categories of pitchers and designated hitters are sky-to-ground.

Currently, there is only one golden glove for pitchers. This year alone, however, there are 33 candidates. It is necessary to break through the 33:1 competition ratio, but in the case of designated hitters, only two candidates are Choi Hyung-woo (KIA) and Kang Baek-ho (KT), so the competition ratio is only 2:1.

This is because pitchers have not been subdivided by position. In the case of fielders, nine winners in seven categories are produced because each defensive position can be awarded up to 'designated hitter'. However, in the case of pitchers, even though it is actually the position with the largest number of registered players in the league, only one Golden Glove is given in total. In a way, it may be more glorious, but it is also a reality that bullpen pitchers are relatively marginalized.

Kyle Hart, who won the Golden Glove for pitching last year. The photo is a proxy award. Sports Chosun DB

In modern baseball, the division of pitchers is thoroughly divided. Sometimes, there are pitchers who play between bullpens and starters, but most of them are in positions by accurately dividing roles such as starters, bullpens, especially finishing and winning teams, chasing teams, and long relief. However, since there is only one golden glove given to the best pitcher in the KBO League, there is inevitable concentration on starting pitchers with a high proportion of business innings.

The first time a bullpen pitcher won the Golden Glove was Son Seung-rak, who was the closer of the Nexen Heroes in 2013, and Son Seung-rak was the first bullpen pitcher in 19 years. Once in nearly 20 years, bullpen pitchers won the Golden Glove Award, and until last year, all of them were on the stage of starting pitchers. In particular, it is also noteworthy that all the winners were foreign pitchers except for Ahn Woo-jin (Kium) in 2022 from 2018 to last year.

In terms of starting performance, it is not easy to beat the key foreign pitchers of each team. But the bullpen is different again. Noh Kyung-eun, who is over 40 years old, has become the hold king for the second consecutive year, and Park Young-hyun (KT), who became the "Save King", and Kim Seo-hyun (Hanwha), who locked the back door of Hanwha this year, have a variety of performances from promising players in their 20s to the oldest veteran. Like individual titles, if the pitching golden glove is subdivided into at least two and up to three, they can receive more attention.

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In fact, it is also a part that became solid after bringing about the major league's 'Gold Glove' system. However, Major League Baseball's 'Gold Glove' is thoroughly based on defense. Therefore, there is only one pitcher in total, and designated hitters who do not defend are not eligible for the award. Instead, a 'utility' category was created for players playing multiple defensive positions.

On the other hand, the Golden Glove in the KBO League should be considered a prize for each position of 'Korean style'. Of course, he sees defense, but at a similar value, much more votes are drawn to players with superior offense. It's because I see all the 'articulate grades' The designated hitter position, which is evaluated purely as a 100% offensive performance, is evidence of this.

Even more, for the Korean award ceremony, wouldn't the segmentation of the pitching sector fit the trend of the times. The hard work of bullpen pitchers who take the mound and wait for more games is also worth the spotlight.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.