One day and pitching match-up makes quite a difference in the KBO. Three teams scored 10 or more runs on Wednesday with only one team getting shut out on the slate. Sitting second in the standing, the LG Twins exploded for 15 runs in Hanwha: 

Before delving into the game recaps, more injury news emerged. First, a potentially big loss for Kiwoom: 

Brigham went 13-5 with a 2.96 ERA last year but started slowly with an ERA of five through his first 18 innings in 2020. Perhaps this injury explains the discrepancy and news will be pending since he went to Seoul for testing on his elbow. Samsung’s offense continues to perk up but they lost one of their best hitters, Ja-wook Koo for the next month due to an adductor muscle injury. Now to the game action from Wednesday. 

 

Starting Pitcher Spotlight

Another gem by Odrisamer Despaigne contributed to the KT Wiz’s shutout victory over Kia. Despaigne notched his second win throwing scoreless frames allowing four hits and three walks with seven strikeouts which can be seen in this tweet:

Through his first five starts in the KBO, Despaigne’s recorded four quality outings with a 1.69 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 28:5 K:BB. Pretty, pretty good. 

Tae-in Won won his second game of 2020 throwing eight shutout innings yielding four hits and striking out six. He’s been a bit wonky this year but Samsung needs Won to continue to improve as the season progresses. 

NC Dinos starter Jae-hak Lee moved to 2-0 working 6.1 innings giving up six hits, two earned runs and two walks with six strikeouts. He lowered his ERA to 4.36 as a result of this outing. 

It’s difficult not to root for Doosan starter Hui-kwan Yu. He features a 60-MPH curveball and a personality akin to Bartolo Colón : 

Yu won his second logging seven innings allowing four hits, one earned run and four walks with five strikeouts. 

Hitter Highlights

LG Twins

Another day, another Roberto Ramos home run: 

Ramos homered for the third straight contest driving in two during a 2-for-4 day at the dish. He not only leads the KBO in home runs (9), he’s also first in on-base plus slugging percentage (1.270) and tied for third in RBI (19). His team plated 15 runs and here’s the other contributors during their lopsided win in Hanwha: 

 

  • Hyun-Soo Kim (OF) - Went 3-for-4 with a double (his 10th this year), two RBI and walked raising his slash to .410/.465/.603 on the year. 

  • Yong-taik Park (DH) - Finished 3-for-5 with two runs, a double and an RBI. 

  • Kang-nam Yoo (C) - Launched his second home run among his two hits in three at-bats while scoring two runs and driving in two. 

  • Ji-hwan Oh (SS) - Hitting ninth in the lineup, Oh went yard twice (2,3) driving in three runs and stole his second base for a combo meal. 

Hanwha Eagles

  • Eun-won Jung (2B) - Racked up two hits including his first home run of the year with a run and an RBI. 

  • Hae-hang Lee (C) - Tallied two hits, hit his second home run and drove in two. 

Samsung Lions

Helping Samsung score 11 runs in a win, Gye-beom Park helped with his bat and glove:

Park’s compadres also contributed during the Lions 11-1 win in Lotte:

  • Sang-su Kim (2B) - Only recorded one hit in two at-bats while drawing two walks and being hit-by-a-pitch reaching base in four of his five plate appearances taking over the league lead in OBP (.513). Kim also scored two runs. 

  • Won-seok Lee (3B) - Went 2-for-5 with a double and five RBI. 

  • Tyler Saladino (1B)- Hit his second home run driving in two but owns a paltry .163 batting average during his first year in the KBO. They all cannot be Ramos. 

NC Dinos

Not only did the Dinos win their 16th game, they scored 10 runs on 13 hits in a victory over reeling Kiwoom. Even though Jin-sung Kang did not start, he still added to the offense with the bat flip of the day: 

While the owners and players of the major leagues negotiate, the KBO provides some much needed fun and passion on the timeline regarding a game I love. Kang finished 1-for-2 hitting his fifth home run and leads the Dinos with a .476 batting average and would lead the KBO if he qualified in OPS (1.425) but he’s only accrued 51 plate appearances. Here’s how the rest of his team did on Wednesday:

  • Myung-gi Lee (OF) - Racked up three hits in four at-bats with two runs. 

  • Sung-bum Na (OF) - Notched his fourth straight multiple hit contest going 2-for-3 with a run raising his average to .320 on the season. 

  • Eui-ji Yang (C) - Smacked his second home run of the year driving in two runs, he also scored twice and walked in four plate appearances. Yang could be getting healthy which means a power surge could be on tap. 

  • Suk-min Park (3B) - Also launched his fifth home run driving in three among his three hits in four at-bats raising his average to .291 on the season. 

Kiwoom Heroes

  • Keon-chang Seo (2B) - Both hits resulted in extra-bases with Seo hitting a double and his third home run driving in one. 

  • Jung-hoo Lee (OF) - Went 2-for-3 with two walks. Lee’s slashing a robust .365/.437/.649 on the year. 

KT Wiz

  • Jeong-dae Bae (OF) - Cranked out three hits in four at-bats including a double while scoring a run and driving in two. He’s slashing .385/.423/.569 for the Wiz. 

  • Mel Rojas Jr. (OF) - Finished 1-for-3 with two runs, a double, an RBI and walked. Rojas Jr. reached base twice in four plate appearances but his average dipped to .423 on the year. 

Doosan Bears

  • Jose Miguel Fernandez (DH) - Bounced back with his 13th multi-hit game of 19 this year going 2-for-4 with two runs, a double and two RBI. Fernandez leads the KBO in average (.481), hits (38), runs (20) and ranks second in RBI (20). Pretty, pretty good. 

  • Jae-hwan Kim (OF) - Tallied two hits in three at-bats with two RBI. He’s hitting .377 but with only three extra-base hits all year. 

Thursday marks the debut of Adrian Sampson for Lotte. He will be limited to about 50 pitches so he should be avoided for DFS purposes but he could be a key to Lotte staying in playoff contention. Warwick Saupold (Hanwha), Eric Jokisch (Kiwoom) and Casey Kelly (LG) also take the mound making for an intriguing slate facing tough offenses. Although there’s still no fans at KBO games, teams continue to make it interesting how they fill the seats:

Again, the KBO may not be for everyone, but one cannot deny how teams try to keep the passion for the game alive while having some fun. Be sure to stay with Fantasy Alarm across all fantasy formats to remain ahead of the competition. 

 

Statistical Credits

Eng.koreabaseball.com

myKBOstats.com