Rookie pitcher Baechansung (19) of the Samsung Lions was honored to be named to the best 12 rookie pitchers, becoming only the third player in history to achieve this distinction.

The KBO announced the 2025 All-Star game best 12 on the 23rd. The best 12 for the All-Star game were determined based on a combination of three weeks of fan voting (70%) and player voting (30%) conducted from the 2nd to the 22nd via three voting channels: the KBO website, the KBO official app, and the Shinhan SOL Bank app.

Baechansung was the only rookie to be named to the best 12. He is the sixth player in history to be selected to the All-Star best 12 as a high school graduate, and the third high school rookie pitcher after LG's Jeong Wooyoung in 2019 and Doosan's Kim Taekyeon in 2024.

It was dramatic. In the mid-relief pitcher category of the Dream All-Star, Baechansung trailed Lotte Giants' Jeong Cheol-won in fan voting, but with more than double the votes in player voting, he made a comeback to secure a place on the best 12.

Baechansung received 1,102,268 votes in fan voting, while Jeong Cheol-won received 1,360,606 votes, resulting in a difference of nearly 260,000 votes. In fan voting, Samsung and Lotte fiercely competed for each position.

Baechansung received the most votes among the player pool with 129 out of 352 votes. Jeong Cheol-won garnered 64 votes. Baechansung recorded a total score of 32.86 points, surpassing Jeong Cheol-won's score of 32.44 points by 0.42 points to make the best 12. The players gave higher scores to the performance of the 19-year-old rookie.

Baechansung was drafted by Samsung as the overall 3rd pick in the first round of the 2025 rookie draft. He is a left-handed pitcher who throws at 150 km/h, received good evaluations during spring camp, and began his debut season as a relief pitcher. This season, he has appeared in 35 games (29.1 innings), recording 1 loss, 10 holds, and an earned run average of 4.60.

Jeong Cheol-won, who was traded from Doosan to Lotte in the offseason, has shown a return to form similar to when he won the rookie award in 2022. Jeong reunited with manager Kim Tae-hyoung, who knows him well, presenting a different appearance compared to last year's struggles (36 games, 2 wins, 1 loss, 6 saves, 1 hold, 6.40 ERA).

He is making a significant contribution to the Lotte bullpen as a key player. He has pitched in back-to-back games twice and frequently appeared in four games a week. This season, he has pitched in 39 games (38.1 innings), achieving 4 wins, 1 loss, 16 holds, and an earned run average of 4.23.

Hanwha's Kim Seo-hyeon, candidate for the Na-num All-Star closer category, achieved the most fan votes in history with 1,786,837 votes, becoming the 'most voted by fans' in the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO All-Star game. This is the second instance of the fan vote leader emerging in the closer category since the 2015 season, following Kia's Jeong Haeyoung in the 2024 season; Kim is the second Hanwha player after Lee Yong-kyu from the 2016 season.

In the Dream All-Star pitcher category, the best 12 included starting pitcher Won Tae-in from Samsung, mid-relief pitcher Baechansung from Samsung, and closer Kim Won-jung from Lotte. Won Tae-in was named to the best 12 for the third time in his career and will pitch in the Dream All-Star as a starting pitcher for the second consecutive year following the 2024 season. Kim Won-jung, who has been active as Lotte's closer, was also named to the All-Star best 12 for the third time in his career.

In the catcher category, Samsung's Kang Min-ho was selected for the 15th time overall (12 times as part of the best 12 / 3 times as a coach's recommendation), tying with LG's Kim Hyun-soo and former Samsung's Yang Joon-hyuk for the most All-Star selections in history (16 times for Kim Hyun-soo when selected by coaches). Kang Min-ho's selection to the best 12 is his 12th, matching the record for the most selections among catchers held by Lee Man-soo (former Samsung).

In the infield category, first baseman Diaz from Samsung, second baseman Go Seung-min from Lotte, third baseman Choi Jeong from SSG, and shortstop Jeon Min-jae from Lotte were selected for the best 12. In the player voting, Lotte's Go Seung-min received 169 votes and edged out Samsung's Ryu Ji-hyuk by a total score difference of 2.85 points to make his first All-Star appearance as a second baseman. In the third baseman category, Choi Jeong, the owner of 500 career home runs, was named to the best 12. This is Choi's 9th selection to the best 12, maintaining the record for the most selections for a third baseman. Jeon Min-jae also earned the honor of making his debut in the All-Star game.

In the outfield category, Samsung's Koo Ja-wook, Lotte's Yoon Dong-hee, and Reyes were selected. Samsung's Koo Ja-wook made it to the best 12 for the 9th time and has been selected to the best 12 for five consecutive years since 2021. In the designated hitter category, Lotte's Jeon Jun-woo topped the fan voting and made his fifth appearance in the best 12.

The Na-num All-Star pitcher category features Kim Seo-hyeon, who ranked first in fan voting for closers, as well as starting pitcher Fonse and mid-relief pitcher Park Sang-won, all from Hanwha. Fonse received overwhelming support in fan and player voting to achieve his first selection to the best 12. Park Sang-won, selected for the first time to the best 12, recorded over 1 million votes in the fan vote for the Na-num mid-relief pitcher category.

In the catcher category, LG's Park Dong-won was selected to the Na-num All-Star best 12 for the fourth consecutive year. In the infield, first baseman Austin from LG, second baseman Park Min-woo from NC, third baseman Kim Do-young from KIA, and shortstop Park Chan-ho were selected. NC's Park Min-woo made his return to the All-Star best 12 for the first time in 7 years since 2019, marking his third career All-Star appearance. Kim Do-young and Park Chan-ho were both selected to the best 12 in the third baseman and shortstop categories for the second consecutive year.

In the outfield category, NC's Park Gun-woo, Hanwha's Florial, and LG's Park Hae-min were selected for the best 12. Park Hae-min achieved his first best 12 selection as a member of LG, marking his second career best 12 selection. Park Gun-woo made his return to the best 12 after three years, marking his third best 12 selection.

Choi Hyung-woo, who was named the oldest All-Star MVP in 2024, was selected for the best 12 in the designated hitter category. Choi edged out Hanwha's Moon Hyun-bin by a narrow margin of 0.27 points to rank in the best 12.

In the voting for the All-Star best 12, the dominance of Lotte and Samsung was prominent. In the Dream All-Star, Lotte produced 6 players in the best 12, making up half of the selections, while Samsung had 5 players, and SSG had 1 player. In the Na-num All-Star, Hanwha produced 4 players, KIA had 3, LG had 3, and NC had 2 players.

In the Dream All-Star, Baechansung, Diaz, Go Seung-min, Jeon Min-jae, and Reyes are set to make their first All-Star appearances, while in the Na-num All-Star, Fonse, Kim Seo-hyeon, and Florial have been selected for the first time to the best 12.

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