LG Twins acquire Australian pitcher Jon Kennedy

On August 15, the LG Twins announced they had acquired Australian pitcher Jon Kennedy as their new Asian quota player for the remainder of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season. Kennedy replaces Lachlan Wells, who was also an Australian teammate of Kennedy at this year's World Baseball Classic.

Kennedy, 31, primarily pitches in Australia and has four years of minor league experience in the United States, reaching as high as Triple-A. Over 94 games in the U.S., Kennedy compiled a record of 10-10 with a 3.09 ERA in 186 1/3 innings pitched.

The Twins emphasized that Kennedy is a groundball pitcher who will strengthen their pitching staff for the remainder of the season as they strive for their second consecutive Korean Series title. Kennedy will be eligible for the postseason if the Twins achieve this, with August 15 being the annual deadline for KBO clubs to add foreign players to their active roster for postseason participation.

Prior to Saturday's games, the Twins were in third place in the KBO standings with a record of 57 wins, 47 losses, and 1 tie. They had previously been in first place on June 30, but following a poor July, they now have the worst record in the KBO during that time. Lachlan Wells started the 2026 season strongly, going 5-2 with a 2.88 ERA in his first 13 starts, but his performance declined after July, culminating in a season-low of 2 2/3 innings in his last appearance on August 4.

The Twins attempted to replace Wells with Japanese pitcher Akitake Okada from the Ulsan Whales, a team in the second-tier Futures League. Although the two clubs had a deal in place, the KBO prohibited the unaffiliated player from signing with a KBO club midseason, citing rules that only allowed such signings between the end of the previous postseason and July 31 of the following year. The KBO subsequently apologized to both clubs for insufficient rule review.