Just 0.003 apart, Gu Ja-wook and Reyes take batting-title race to the finish

The Korean baseball batting-title race has narrowed to a margin of 0.003. Samsung captain Gu Ja-wook leads Lotte foreign hitter Reyes, 0.358 to 0.355, with the season heading toward its final stretch.

Gu lifted his average from 0.330 at the end of June to above .350 after hitting in the .400s across July and August. Reyes answered with a .435 average last month, collecting 27 hits in 62 at-bats.

Both players know what it is like to come close and miss. Gu finished second in 2023 after hitting .336, trailing Son Ah-seop by 0.003. Reyes set a professional baseball record with 202 hits in 2024, but still missed the batting title. He finished with a .352 average, behind SSG’s Eredia, who hit .360.

The team standings could become the decisive factor. Samsung is battling KT for first place, separated by half a game, leaving Gu with team victories to prioritize as captain. Lotte sits seventh and is outside the race for the top five, giving Reyes more room to pursue an individual title.

The teams are scheduled to meet three more times: in Daegu on the 15th, then in Sajik on the 19th and 20th. With the two hitters separated by only three-thousandths, the race remains open to the end of the season.