Been Gwak

Been Gwak (곽빈)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 209 lb.

• High School Baemyeong High School

• Born May 28, 1999 in Seoul South Korea

BR register page

Biographical Information

Been Gwak has pitched in the Korea Baseball Organization and for the South Korean national team.

Gwak represented South Korea in the 2017 U-18 Baseball World Cup. He was 1-1 with a 2.51 ERA in 14 1/3 innings. He beat Landon Leach and Canada then dueled Ethan Hankins and the US for 7 innings before fading. He tied for second in the Cup in IP, behind Donny Breek; he tied Breek for 5th in K (18). He was also 1 for 13 as a DH for the Silver Medal winners. The Doosan Bears picked him in the first round of 2017 KBO draft. He had a 7.55 ERA in 32 relief outings in 2017. He received Tommy John surgery and missed 2019 and 2020 seasons. The young right-handed pitcher recovered well, and joined the rotation in 2021. He was 4-7 with 96 strikeouts and a 4.21 ERA. Gwak improved next year, when he collected 8 wins with a 3.78 ERA.

He then made the South Korean team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. In his debut, he relieved Tae-in Won in the 7th with a 5-3 deficit behind Japan. Shohei Ohtani hit a lead-off double, he retired Munetaka Murakami, and Masataka Yoshida then hit a sacrifice fly to extend Japan's lead to 3 runs. Kazuma Okamoto singled, but Gwak made Shugo Maki hit a grounder to end the inning. He also pitched against Czechia the next day. He relieved Se-woong Park in the 5th inning, whiffed William Escala and ended that inning. He struck out Petr Zyma and Vojtech Mensik between a pop out by Filip Smola, but Eric Sogard and Marek Chlup both singled off him. Cheol-won Jeong relieved him and Matej Mensik doubled to send in Sogard, a run that was charged to Gwak.