Professional baseball experts, who served as former players and general managers, expected the defending champion KIA Tigers to dominate the 2025 professional baseball league, which opens on the 22nd.

The team also forecasted the Samsung Lions, the 2023 KS champion LG Twins, and the KT Wiz, which advanced to the Korean Series last season. The team picked the Doosan Bears and the Hanwha Eagles as dark horses.온라인카지노

MBC Sports Plus commentator Jung Min-chul, former SSG Landers general manager Ryu Sun-kyu, KBSN Sports commentator Kim Tae-kyun, and MBC Sports Plus commentator Heo Do-hwan agreed on the "first round."

"KIA has no leaks in all its power, including starters, bullpens, and batters," Jung Min-chul, a member of the committee, said. "There were concerns about the fifth starter, but Kim Do-hyun showed good performance (in the trial game)."

"The key to the new season is which team will check KIA's dominance," said Kim Tae-kyun, a member of the committee. "The mid-range fight will be more fun than the first-place fight."

Heo Do-hwan also predicted, "KIA has objections to the 5th selection (returning after June)," adding, "If there are no injuries, I think there is a high possibility of winning."

"Samsung showed bullpen problems last year, but there are many good players in the new season," former general manager Ryu Sun-kyu said. "If young players who played as starters, such as Hwang Dong-jae, Lee Jae-hee and Bae Chan-seung, add strength to the bullpen, they will be able to compensate for their weaknesses."

In addition, he predicted, "It is difficult to predict Bae Chan-seung because he is a rookie pitcher, but considering the pitch and pitching, he may be able to perform at the level of Doosan's Kim Taek-yeon (who received the Rookie of the Year in the 2024 season)."

"Since proven starting pitchers such as Ariel Furado and Choi Won-tae joined, the bullpen load will be smaller," Kim Tae-kyun said, adding, "I think I will have the power to endure in the second half."

However, opinions on the last spot of the postseason were mixed.

Chung Min-cheol and Kim Tae-kyun picked Hanwha, while Ryu Sun-kyu chose Doosan. Huh Do-hwan said Hanwha and Doosan are neck-and-neck.

"Hanwha is worried about Cody Ponce's durability, but the starting rotation was completed with the addition of Um Sang-baek, and the center line became solid with Shim Woo-joon joining," Chung said. "The key is how Moon Dong-ju will look in the fifth starting position."

On the other hand, former general manager Ryu Sun-kyu said, "Doosan is a team that has power to advance to the postseason despite the injuries and sluggishness of foreign players last year," adding, "There are voices of concern over the Keystone duo in the new season, but they have shown stable performance in their own exhibition games."

The main evaluation was that if each team's weaknesses were well compensated, they could look to advance to the postseason.

However, no experts considered the Kiwoom Heroes' chances of entering autumn baseball, where Kim Hye-sung (Los Angeles Dodgers) escaped.

Former general manager Ryu Sun-kyu said, "Kium is a team that should look forward to 2026 when (the surgery ace) Ahn Woo-jin returns," adding, "It is an atmosphere that focuses on fostering young players."

Experts said that the strike zone, which is different from the pitch clock introduced into the KBO League this year, could be a variable in the team's performance.

"Pitch clock speeds up the tempo of the league itself, so pitchers are in an advantageous situation," said Kim Tae-kyun, a member of the committee. "It will affect not only individual performance but also team performance."

"Many pitchers learned how to put strikes in a trajectory that is difficult for opposing batters to hit while experiencing the automatic pitching determination system (ABS) last year," Kim said. "The team's performance can also be determined by how quickly they adapt to the changed strike zone this season."