This week, a competition is expected to unfold in the outfields of Suwon and Jamshil for the record-breaking home run of foreign batters in professional baseball.
Mel Rojas Jr., a foreign batter for the KT Wiz, who has recorded a total of 174 home runs, is just 1 home run away from setting the home run record for foreign batters in the KBO League.
Rojas reported his home run in the third at-bat, stepping up as the lead batter in the 7th inning trailing 2-7 against the newly substituted pitcher Lee Joon-woo of Kiwoom. He hit a solo home run to narrow the gap, receiving a 134 km slider on the third pitch of a 1B-1S count, resulting in a 130m home run. This marked his 10th home run of the season and the 174th of his career, coming after a two-week gap since the game against the Daegu Samsung Lions on June 15.
With this home run, Rojas has achieved double-digit home runs for six consecutive seasons, tying for first place in career home runs among foreign batters in the KBO League. He now stands shoulder to shoulder with 'legend' Tyron Woods, who hit 174 home runs for the Bears from 1998 to 2002. Now, if he adds just 1 more home run, he could write a new history in the field of foreign batters' home runs in professional baseball after 23 years.
Rojas entered the KBO League in June 2017 as a substitute foreign player for Johnny Monell, with a total of 400,000 dollars (approximately 500 million won) under manager Kim Jin-wook. Despite being a substitute player, he quickly adapted to the league, achieving a batting average of .310 with 18 home runs and 56 RBIs in 83 games, leading to a successful re-signing. By the end of the 2020 season, he had a career batting average of .321 with 633 hits, 132 home runs, 409 RBIs, and 350 runs scored, blazing a trail as a valuable foreign player. He won four categories in the 2020 season, including home runs (47), RBIs (135), runs scored (116), and slugging percentage (.680), earning the regular-season MVP.
After experiencing two years of Japanese professional baseball with the Hanshin Tigers, Rojas returned to his original team KT for the 2024 season. KT boldly invested 900,000 dollars (approximately 1.2 billion won) on the judgment that Rojas would be sufficient in the KBO League. Rojas made a comeback by playing all games (144 games) with a batting average of .329, 188 hits, 32 home runs, and 112 RBIs, with a slugging percentage of .568 and an on-base percentage of .421. After re-signing for 1.8 million dollars (approximately 2.4 billion won) this year, he has hit 10 home runs in the first half of the season and is poised to set the home run record for foreign batters.
In celebration of Rojas's foreign home run record, the KT team has planned an event titled "We are looking for the owner of Rojas's 175th homerun ball." A KT official noted, "Fans who acquire and donate Rojas's 175th home run ball will receive a KT Wiz 2026 season ticket (central designated seat), a meal voucher for two at the 'Suwon Hanwoo Galbi Specialty Store,' and a signed uniform from Rojas. This is a momentous record coming after 23 years, surpassing Woods, who is included in the 'Legend 40' of professional baseball, so we prepared a special event."
After facing Kiwoom on the 3rd in Suwon, Rojas will move to Jamshil over the weekend to meet the Doosan Bears. Numerous fans are expected to gather in the outfields of Suwon KT Wiz Park and Jamshil Stadium for the home run ball event. While it may not be the 500 home runs of Choi Jeong (SSG Landers), the competition for home run balls appears inevitable as a new history for foreign batters is about to be made.
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