Chang-ki Hong

Chang-ki Hong (홍창기)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 207 lb.

• School Konkuk University
• High School Ansan Technical High School

• Born November 21, 1993 in Seongnam South Korea

BR register page

Biographical Information

Chang-ki Hong has played in the KBO.

Hong played for South Korea in the 2015 Universiade and the 2016 U-23 Baseball World Cup, then was taken by the LG Twins in the third round of the second phase in the 2016 KBO draft. Hong only played 3 games with the big club, then missed the next two seasons due to military service. He still didn't get many chances, and batted .250/.308/.333 in 23 games in 2019. He joined the Geelong-Korea team of the Australian Baseball League after this season, and hit .333/.465/.496 there. He was 6th in the 2019-2020 ABL in runs (29), tied for 10th in hits (41), tied for 2nd in doubles (11, one behind Robbie Glendinning), second to Jordan Qsar in walks and among the top ten in average, OBP and OPS.

The Seongnam native broke out back home in 2020, hitting .279/.411/.417 with 5 homers and 6 triples. He ranked 6th in OBP (.025 behind Sok-min Park), 5th in walks (83, 8 behind Jamie Romak, Jae-hwan Kim and Geon-chang Seo) and 4th in triples (2 behind Soo-bin Jung). He struggled in the postseason, having a 0-for-12 record and the Twins were swept by the Doosan Bears in the first round. He became the first Twins rookie to reach a .400 OBP, and he ranked 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting behind Hyeong-jun So. Hong improved again and he hit .328/.456/.408 with four homers in 2021. He led the league in plate appearances, walks and OBP, ranked 4th in batting (.032 behind Jung-hoo Lee), 5th in hits (20 behind Jun-woo Jeon) and 2nd in runs (4 behind Ja-wook Koo). He was the 7th player to both score 100 runs and draw 100 walks in KBO history, and also broke the Twins record with his 125 walks. His 297 times on base was the most by a left-handed batter in KBO history, only Tae-kyun Kim had more than him from either side, doing so in 2016. However, he struggled again in the postseason, only hit .143/.200/.143 and the Bears beat them again. He also won his first KBO Gold Glove award as an outfielder; the Gold Glove in the KBO goes to the best overall player at each position, not being solely a defensive award. He joined Ja-wook Ko and Jung-hoo Lee in being honored in the outfield.

Hong slumped to .286/.390/.355 in 2022, but he still ranked 5th in OBP (.031 behind Lee). He had a terrible performance in the postseason again, going 1-for-11 and the Kiwoom Heroes beat them; he was 3-for-37 in the postseason in his career now. The talented outfielder bounced back soon, hitting .332/.444/.412 with one homer in 2023. He led the league in walks, OBP and runs scored, ranked 4th in batting (.007 behind Ah-seop Son), 3rd in hits (13 behind Son) and 3rd in doubles (2 behind Koo). Hong looked like the same batter in the first two games in the 2023 Korean Series as he was 0-for-8 against the Kt Wiz, and he finally managed to produce in the postseason in the rest of the series. He was 3-for-4 with a walk in Game 3, and collected a RBI single off Jae-yun Kim in Game 4. Hong was 2-for-3 in Game 5 and won his first title; his batting line was .350/.435/.350 in this series. He won the first KBO Fielding Award as an right fielder for his work this season.