Lions slugger Diaz says KBO postseason 'is not about me'

Lewin Diaz of the Samsung Lions hits a double against the SSG Landers during Game 1 of the first-round series in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon, Oct. 9. Yonhap

Through three games of the ongoing Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason series against the SSG Landers, Lewin Diaz of the Samsung Lions is leading his team with four hits and is tied for first with three RBIs. He has only struck out once in 13 trips to the plate.

And the Dominican slugger is doing all this after leading the regular season with a KBO-record 158 RBIs and 50 home runs, the most ever by a foreign-born hitter in league history.

However, with the Lions leading the best-of-five showdown 2-1 entering Tuesday's contest, Diaz wanted to deflect attention from himself and toward the team goal.

"I know everybody wants to see me hit a lot in the postseason, but the postseason is not about me," Diaz said in his pregame media availability at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in the southeastern city of Daegu. "The postseason is about winning. I know everybody wants to do a good job but for me, it's about winning. If I'm not doing a really good job as a hitter, I can even do it on defense. I just think about winning, not my number."

Diaz went 0-for-7 in two games in the wild card phase last week but seems to be rounding into form as the postseason progresses.

"I just try to put my body in a good position to compete," he said. "In wild card games, my timing was a little off. So I just kept working hard. So this series, I feel better, and it's all about trying to work hard every day and be consistent."

After joining the Lions in the middle of last year, Diaz had his first full regular season in 2025 and is now playing in his second consecutive postseason. Last year, the Lions went all the way to the Korean Series but fell to the Kia Tigers as the No. 2 seed. This time around, the Lions are No. 4 seed and are trying to pass through a couple of rounds to return to the championship stage.

"Last year, I felt a little bit more pressure because it was my first postseason and everything was different," he recalled. "This year, I played a full year here already so I feel a little more comfortable. So I think we got a pretty good chance to make the Korean Series."