Former MVP of KT Wiz, Mel Rojas Jr. of the U.S. wrapped up his return season with the Golden Glove. Rojas vowed to do well next year, saying, “I’m even more glad that I didn’t expect it at all.”
Rojas won the Golden Glove in the Outfielder category at the 2024 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO Golden Glove Awards held at the COEX Auditorium in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 13th.
At the Golden Glove Awards, outfielders were selected as a battleground. Koo Ja-wook (90.3 percent) was the first to win the most votes out of 288 valid votes. Reyes (Lotte) ranked second with 161 votes (55.9 percent) and Rojas third with 153 votes (53.1 percent), embracing the glorious Golden Glove.
There was also an outfielder who could not win the Golden Glove due to Rojas’ loss. It was Herredia (SSG). Herredia received 147 votes (51 percent), ranking fourth in the outfield. She was only six votes shorter than Rojas. Hong Chang-ki followed with 77 votes (26.7 percent). 메이저놀이터
It was the third time for Rojas to win the Golden Glove following the 2019 and 2020 seasons. In addition, Rojas was named the first player in KT’s history to win the Golden Glove three times.
Rojas joined KT Wiz as a substitute foreign hitter in 2017. He also had the best year of his career, dominating the KBO league in the 2020 season. He played in 142 games with a batting average of 0.349, had 47 homers and 135 RBIs, and became the top four hitters. He ranked first in both runs scored (116 points) and slugging percentage (0.680) as well as home runs and RBIs. He had 192 hits, ranking second overall. The honor of becoming the MVP of the 2020 season was also attributable to Rojas.
Based on his stellar performance in the 2020 season, Rojas joined the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team in 2021 and joined the Hanshin Tigers. However, he played in 149 games during the two years and had only 17 homers. Having played in the Dominican Winter League and the Mexican League in 2023, Rojas returned to the KBO league for the first time in four years this year. Still, his bat was fierce. He played in all games (144 games) in 2024, posting a batting average of 0.329 and 188 hits (fourth in the league), 112 RBIs (fifth in the league), 108 runs (second in the league), 32 homers (sixth) and 0.421 (second in the on-base percentage).
Although Rojas couldn’t attend the ceremony, he greeted his fans through KT. “Honestly, I didn’t expect it at all because other candidates did so well in the outfield category this year. But I feel really good to have my name called. I feel even more happy and overwhelmed because I didn’t expect it,” Rojas said.
Rojas continued, “I am honored to be the first KT team to receive the third Golden Glove award. I will play for KT again next season, and I will do my best to receive it again.” KT has promised to pay a total of 1.8 million U.S. dollars to be with Rojas next year as well. What kind of performance will Rojas perform next season? KT fans have high expectations.
