“No one expected a collapse this hollow”... The 90-win monster kt wiz crumbled so helplessly

[Financial News] No one in baseball expected such a hollow and helpless collapse. kt wiz, which had demonstrated overwhelming dominance with 90 wins (a .647 winning percentage) in the 2026 regular season, crumbled almost unbelievably on the Korean Series stage.
On the 8th, kt wiz suffered a crushing 1-12 loss to the Samsung Lions in Game 5 of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO postseason Korean Series (KS, best-of-seven), ending the season with a 1-4 series record. Defying every expert’s expectation that it would have the edge in fitness and overall roster strength, kt wiz’s performance in the short series was nothing short of shocking.
kt wiz’s journey this season was like magic. It perfectly filled the gaps left by the departure of key hitter Kang Baek-ho and the retirements of veteran infielders with outside signings such as Kim Hyun-soo, Choi Won-joon, and Han Seung-taek. The trademark player-management approach of manager LEE Kang Chul came to the fore as the team made the bold move of replacing all its foreign pitchers midway through the season (Logan Allen and Davis Daniel). Riding a scorching surge from July onward, kt wiz finished eight games ahead of second-place Samsung and clinched first place in the regular season as early as October 5.

But the long break of about a month proved to be a liability. Despite having the fitness advantage over Samsung, which had fought through a grueling five-game playoff series to reach the Korean Series, a strange sense of complacency was evident among the kt wiz players throughout the series.
In 2021, when the team won its first-ever unified championship, captain Park Kyung-soo stayed in the dugout on crutches despite being injured. His fighting spirit was nowhere to be seen this year. Instead of the desperation of a team facing elimination, a lax atmosphere prevailed, fueled by the arrogance of having finished first in the regular season.
That immediately translated into the team’s performance. Disaster seemed inevitable from the first game, when kt wiz led 8-0 but gave up seven runs from the seventh inning onward before scraping out an 8-7 win.
After giving Samsung the confidence that it could compete, kt wiz surrendered the go-ahead run on a costly defensive error in the 12th inning of Game 2. In Game 3, trusted starter So Hyeong-jun unraveled, issuing five walks in two innings. The team suffered a heavy defeat in Game 4 after giving up 12 free passes, then meekly conceded Game 5 as well. It was a comprehensive defeat brought about by a sudden loss of command among the starters, boneheaded defensive errors by the fielders, and a dugout atmosphere that had sunk under a heavy pall.

After experiencing a shocking failure, the kt wiz front office must now face a brutal offseason.
Replacing the two foreign pitchers, who failed so thoroughly in the Korean Series, is increasingly seen as a foregone conclusion. The team also needs to retain its own free agents, including outfielders Kim Min-hyuk and Bae Jung-dae and infielder Kim Sang-su. And with strengthening the catching position identified as its most painful weakness, this is the time to carefully consider entering the catcher free-agent market, where Park Dong-won, Kim Tae-gun, and Choi Jae-hoon are among those available.
kt wiz turned the regular season’s brilliant glory into its most dreadful nightmare. Thoroughly reviewing the causes of the “collapse no one expected” and making changes have emerged as the team’s top priorities this winter.
[email protected] Jeon Sang-il Reporter