Fueled by failed KBO title defense, Twins slugger Dean keeps focus on team success

Austin Dean of the LG Twins smiles after a 6-4 win over the SSG Landers in a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, June 11. Yonhap

After the end of his second season in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) in 2024, LG Twins first baseman Austin Dean collected a few individual awards. He won his second straight Golden Glove as the best overall player in his position and also nabbed his first KBO Fielding Award for his defensive excellence. Dean also received a trophy for leading the league in RBIs with a franchise-record 132.

Still, Dean went back to his home in Houston with, in his own words, "a bitter taste in my mouth." That's because the Twins, after winning the 2023 Korean Series title, came up short in their title defense, losing to the Samsung Lions in four games in the second round of the postseason.

Back for his third KBO season in 2025, the American slugger remains steadfast in his focus on achieving team success above all else.

"Winning the Golden Glove and the defensive award last year was awesome. I'm super proud of the accomplishment. But for me, it just left a bitter taste in my mouth for us to not to get to the Korean Series," Dean told Yonhap News Agency on Thursday before the Twins hosted the SSG Landers at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. "I went home that offseason pretty upset and pretty bitter about not performing well against Samsung and it was just tough. They were the better team at that moment and that's just how baseball works sometimes."

The Twins lost that best-of-five series in four games. Dean, after batting .310 with three home runs against the Lions during the 2024 regular season, managed just one hit in 15 at-bats with four strikeouts in that series.

This year, Dean is trying to use that bitter defeat as his fuel. And he is no stranger when it comes to using negative experience as motivation.

Dean has been the Twins' primary first baseman since his first season, although he hadn't played there much both in the minors and the majors in the United States. Dean did play first base in high school but was drafted by the Miami Marlins in 2012 as an outfielder.

Dean recalled that he was initially "deemed as not a very good outfielder" but worked hard to become better at his craft. He brought the same work ethic to the KBO and credited the Twins' fielding coach, Kim Il-kyoung, with helping him become "super confident" at first base.

Austin Dean of the LG Twins hits a two-run home run against the SSG Landers during a Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, June 11. Yonhap

"I take a lot of pride in defense. I don't want to be a liability out there," Dean said, while also admitting he was "shocked" to win the KBO Fielding Award in 2024. "My first year in 2023, I would get swapped out a lot. I didn't really like it but I didn't make a big fuss out of it. That's what the manager thought was the best for the team in that moment. It hurt a little bit. So my goal for last year was to make sure I played all nine innings and I did for the most part. This year, it's very rare that I come out and it's usually only times when we're up by a lot or we're losing by a lot."

By advanced fielding metrics, Dean is playing even better defense than a season ago. At the plate, Dean is second in the league with 19 home runs and third in RBIs with 52. With 47 runs scored, Dean is behind only his teammate Moon Bo-gyeong in that category. Dean also boasts the league's second-highest slugging percentage (.601) and second-highest on-base plus slugging (.988). In wins above replacement, Dean is third among position players with 3.10.

All in all, Dean has been one of the best players in the KBO this season. But none of that would matter to him if the Twins don't win the championship in October. And with some young players stepping up in place of injured veterans to keep the Twins in first place at 40-26-1 (wins-losses-ties), Dean sees bright days ahead for his club.

"Right now, we've got a lot of young guys on the field and a lot of them don't have the experience that most of us do on the field. This is their time to step up and just prove why they should be out there," Dean said. "You want to do well out there and you don't want to mess up. But it's baseball. Sometimes, mistakes are going to happen. But this is going to help them grow as baseball players. I am excited for what these guys can do."