[Official Announcement] From “Demotion Crisis” to “New KBO History”: Hilliard Leads KT to Championship and Becomes First Foreign Player to Win Monthly MVP Twice

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

Sam Hilliard (32, KT Wiz), who was even rumored to face demotion at the start of the season, has written history as the first foreign player in KBO League history. By winning the Monthly MVP twice, he delivered the ultimate comeback that led KT to a regular-season championship.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) officially announced on the 20th that “Hilliard was selected as the Monthly MVP for September and October of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League.”

Hilliard recorded a total score of 45.16 points, receiving 11 votes (31.4%) out of 35 from the press corps and 271,145 votes (58.9%) out of 460,048 in fan voting. He comfortably defeated Pedro Avila of the SSG Landers, who scored a total of 24.88 points.

There was no dispute over his award, as his bat was on fire at the end of the season. Hilliard posted a .326 batting average, 43 hits, 14 home runs, 40 RBIs, and 33 runs scored in 32 games during September and October, with a slugging percentage of .697. He led the league individually in home runs and RBIs during this period, while ranking second in runs scored and slugging percentage, and third in hits.

He also played a key role as a go-to hitter when the regular-season championship race reached its peak. After hitting a home run in his final at-bat against Suwon Samsung on the 7th, he cleared the fence in consecutive at-bats in his first two turns against Daegu Samsung on the 11th, completing his first career three-consecutive-at-bat home run streak.

His overall season statistics are also impressive. This year, Hilliard recorded a .304 batting average (171 hits in 562 at-bats), 44 home runs, 139 RBIs, 116 runs scored, and 10 stolen bases in 142 games, with an on-base percentage of .374, a slugging percentage of .593, and an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of .967. He ranked first in RBIs, second in home runs, third in runs scored, and fifth in hits, playing a central role in KT’s rise to the regular-season top spot with a record of 90 wins, 5 draws, and 49 losses.

It was not a smooth path from the start. Hilliard, who signed with KT for a total of $1 million, managed only a .232 batting average, 5 home runs, 21 RBIs, and an OPS of .728 in 28 games through April. At the time, there were even discussions about replacing him as a foreign hitter.

However, KT and Manager Lee Kang-cheol (60) waited. They highly valued his ability to draw walks even during slumps, his clear strengths in center field defense and base running, and his capacity to generate hard contact. After Hilliard’s turnaround, the manager looked back on that period, saying, “Even when he wasn’t hitting well, he drew walks and was solid in defense and base running. We just had to wait for his bat to heat up.”

That patience led to a major reversal. Hilliard, who improved his hitting form from May, smashed 9 home runs and 26 RBIs in 19 games in July to be selected as the Monthly MVP. And he became the hottest hitter again during the final two months of the regular season.

With this, Hilliard has claimed his second Monthly MVP of the season, following his win in July. Since the Monthly MVP award was institutionalized in 2010, only seven players have won it twice in a single season, but Hilliard is the first foreign player to do so.

A foreign hitter whose survival was in question as late as April now holds both a regular-season championship and a KBO-first record six months later. Hilliard will be awarded a prize of 3 million won and a trophy.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original