Baseball champ Samsung runs, slugs way to top

In their quest for their fifth straight South Korean baseball championship, the Samsung Lions have run and slugged their way to the top of the standings in 2015.

The Lions are sitting pretty in first place at 15-5, 2.5 games ahead of the SK Wyverns through Thursday's games. They have been a complete package, among the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) leaders in major pitching and hitting categories.

And long balls have been a major part of their success.

They lead the competition with 28 homers and have hit one in 13 consecutive games, three shy of a franchise record. The league record is 20 games, set by the Kia Tigers in 2004.

Overall, the Lions have hit one in 18 of their 20 games this year. The wealth has been well distributed, too. Yamaico Navarro is the league leader with eight long balls, while two veteran sluggers, Choi Hyoung-woo and Lee Seung-yuop, have six and four apiece. Rookie Koo Ja-wook has chipped in three.

Those long balls have come in key situations. The Lions hit 10 homers when the scores were tied, a half dozen came when they were nursing one-run leads, and four were hit when the team was trailing by one run.

"Hopefully, we can become a team that can hit one out from any spot in the lineup," manager Ryu Joong-il said. "That will put a lot of pressure on opposing pitchers."

On the flip side, the Lions' pitchers have given up the fewest homers so far with 11.

When the hitters aren't leaving the yard, they keep themselves busy on the base paths.

The Lions lead all teams with 30 steals. Park Hae-min is the KBO leader with 12 steals, and he hasn't been caught. Kim Sang-su, who topped the league last year with 53 swipes in 2014, has eight so far to rank third in 2015. He's been caught once.

Overall, the Lions have been caught nine times in 39 attempts, a success rate that puts them second in the league.

Players are crediting first base coach Kim Pyeong-ho with their success, saying his ability to read pitchers' tendencies and pay attention to detail have been great assets.

"During spring training, I tried running on my own without the coach's advice and often got caught," Park Hae-min recalled. "With his help, I have been more successful."

The Lions also had the most steals in the KBO last year with 161, and also had the best stolen base percentage at a shade under 78 percent. (Yonhap)