Categories: News

ESPN set to broadcast KBO games featuring several former Phillies

Aaron Altherr is playing in the KBO. (Ian D’Andrea)

For the first time since last October, there will be meaningful baseball on US television.

The Korean Baseball Organization is set to begin its season on Tuesday, and on Monday it was announced that it partnered with ESPN to broadcast one game a day, starting on Tuesday.

Games will be aired at 5:30 a.m. ET on Tuesdays-Fridays, 4 a.m. ET on Saturdays and 1:30 a.m. ET on Sundays on ESPN2.

The first broadcast features the NC Dinos facing the Samsung Lions at 1:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, and both teams feature some former Phillies.

Aaron Altherr, who made his major league debut in 2015, is an outfielder with the Dinos. After a breakout 2017 with the Phillies in which he slashed .272/.340/.516, Altherr was never able to put it together again and spent 2019 with three different teams before signing with the Dinos in the offseason. Altherr and the Dinos are also set to be broadcast on Thursday at 5:30 a.m. ET, Saturday at 4 a.m. and Sunday at 1 a.m. ET.

Pitchers David Buchanan and Ben Lively are both on the Samsung Lions. Buchanan made 35 starts to the tune of a 5.01 ERA across two seasons for the Phillies in 2015-16 and has spent the last three years in the Japanese Central League.

Lively made 20 starts with the Phillies to the tune of a 4.81 ERA in 2017 and 2018 before he was claimed off waivers by the Kansas City Royals. He and Buchanan both signed with the Lions this offseason, who are also set to be broadcast this week on Thursday and Friday at 5:30 a.m. ET.

Outfielder Hyun-Soo Kim, who spent the second half of the 2017 season with the Phillies, now plays for the LG Twins. The Twins will be broadcast this week on Saturday at 4 a.m. ET and Sunday at 1 a.m. ET.

This will the first taste of live baseball to hit television in the US since MLB ceased operations on March 13. You can look at this week’s full schedule at this link.