The NC Dinos fired their manager Kang In-kwon on Friday, a day after they were eliminated from the postseason contention in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO).
The Dinos said they looked to shake things up by dismissing Kang, who had one year remaining on his three-year contract.
After working as bench coach for the Dinos, Kang took over as interim manager in May 2022. He was promoted to the full-time manager position after the 2022 season and signed a three-year deal then.
He led the Dinos to the postseason last year but failed to repeat the feat this year.
The Dinos were officially eliminated from the postseason contention after losing to the Hanwha Eagles 7-6 Thursday night. They are in ninth place at 60-74-2 (wins-losses-ties).
This July 31, 2024, file photo provided by the NC Dinos shows Dinos manager Kang In-kwon during a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game against the Kiwoom Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
The Dinos were in second place on May 16
at 25-17-1, just one game behind the league-leading Kia Tigers. Since then, however, they have had the league’s worst record at 35-57-1.
On Kang’s watch, the Dinos went 197-197-7.
“With an eye toward building a sustainable contender, we have supported this group because we value continuity with our system and leadership,” the Dinos said in a statement. “However, as we have been eliminated from the postseason race, we felt it was now time to shift our focus to preparing for the 2025 season, and we decided to terminate our contract with Kang In-kwon.”
The Dinos suffered an eight-game losing streak at the end of May and a franchise-worst 10-game skid in August, which saw them fall to last place.
They have been without veteran hitters Son Ah-seop and Park Kun-woo for big chunks of the season due to injuries.
The Dinos, though, have received strong production from their foreign players. Starter Kyle Hart leads the KBO with a 2.44 ERA and is second with 13 wins and 172 strikeouts, giving him a shot at winning
the pitching Triple Crown.
Slugger Matt Davidson is tops with 45 home runs and is in second place with 117 RBIs and a .627 slugging percentage. He is the first KBO player to belt more than 40 home runs since 2020.
Source: Yonhap News Agency