Another wild day in the books for the KBO with bullpens deciding three of the five contests. Samsung reliever Seung-hwan Oh notched his first save of 2020 with a note of history to put his baseball journey into context:
#KBO note: Samsung Lions' closer Oh Seung-hwan (formerly of Cardinals, Blue Jays, Rockies) earned his 400th professional save Tuesday. 278 with KBO, 80 in Japan's NPB, and 42 in the majors. He has a save from four different countries (Korea, Japan, U.S., Canada).
— Jeeho Yoo (@Jeeho_1) June 16, 2020
Two injury notes to be aware of, first Roberto Ramos could be on track to return as early as Thursday for the LG Twins:
#KBO injury note: LG Twins' Roberto Ramos (back, ankle) could be back in the lineup as early as Thursday, manager Ryu Joong-il said. He was put on the injured list last week but traveled with the team to face the Hanwha Eagles. He took BP today.
— Jeeho Yoo (@Jeeho_1) June 16, 2020
Originally, just a back tweak for Ramos with the ankle now tossed in for good measure. He still leads the league with 13 home runs despite missing the last four games. For Kiwoom, more bad news regarding their pitcher and catcher Don-won Park left Tuesday’s game with knee soreness:
#KBO injury news: Kiwoom Heroes manager Son Hyuk just said RHP Jake Brigham (elbow) will not be back until early July. When he was ruled out in late May, Brigham was expected to be out for about 3 weeks. But he will definitely not pitch in June, the manager said.
— Jeeho Yoo (@Jeeho_1) June 16, 2020
A nervous moment for NC Dinos fans when this pitch got away from Aaron Brooks:
Ouch! Kang Jin-sung is advanced to 1B after being hit by this pitch by Aaron Brooks#NCDinos #KIATigers #KBO pic.twitter.com/EKUjVwYzCH
— NC Dinos UK (@NCDinosUK) June 16, 2020
While gasping for air watching this ball hit the KBO’s leading hitter Jin-sung Kang (.447), please appreciate the mint colored jerseys adorning the Dinos in spite of their loss in Kia. Now it’s time to showcase the top performances of the day around the league.
Starting Pitcher Spotlight
LG’s Chan-heon Jung notched his third win working 6.2 innings giving up six hits, two earned runs and one walk with four strikeouts. He’s recorded four quality outings his first five starts with a 3.19 ERA this season.
During a no-decision, Drew Rucinski tied for the league high in strikeouts on the slate with eight over six innings allowing four hits, three runs (two earned) and four walks. Here’s a sampling of his arsenal:
Drew Rucinski, Nasty 87mph Slider. ???? pic.twitter.com/T07MDSO681
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 16, 2020
Rucinski ranks third in the KBO in strikeouts (49) with a 2.41 ERA in his first eight starts this year.
Aaron Brooks matched Rucinski’s eight strikeouts in 5.1 innings yielding six hits, three earned runs and one walk also in a no-decision. As a result of this outing, Brooks lowered his ERA to 2.94 during his first season in the KBO with a 42:8 K:BB in 48 innings.
Raul Alcantara could not close out the win for Doosan settling for a no-decision in an eventual loss to Samsung. Alcantara did register his sixth quality start in eight turns this year tossing six innings giving up six hits, three earned runs and two walks with seven strikeouts including this one:
Raúl Alcántara, Painting with Flames (98mph Fastball). ????????? pic.twitter.com/5567KrwE74
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 16, 2020
Although Alcantara can allow too many hits at times, he leads the KBO in wins (6) and ranks fifth in strikeouts with 42 for the defending champs.
Hitter Highlights
LG Twins
Eun-sung Chae (OF) - Went 3-for-4 with two runs, his fifth home run, two RBI and walked.
Yong-taik Park (DH) - Tallied two hits in four at-bats with two runs and drove in one.
Kang-nam Yoo (C) - Knocked in two runs on two hits in three at-bats and reached via hit-by-pitch in the Twins win. Yoo’s driven in 14 runs his last 11 games.
Ju-hyeon Jung (2B) - Recorded more RBI (4) in this game then he had all season (3) in 28 contests. Jung finished 2-for-5 with a triple and his third home run.
Lotte Giants
Dae-ho Lee (1B) - Launched his sixth home run with an RBI and a walk. Lee’s homered in consecutive games and four times in his last 10.
Dixon Machado (SS) - Racked up three hits in four at-bats with two runs, an RBI and stole his fourth bases of the season. Machado’s hit safely in seven of his last eight plus rose to fifth in the batting order in this game.
Kiwoom Heroes
Jung-hoo Lee (OF) - Went 1-for-3 with a run, double and walked.
Dong-won Park (C) - Homered in his only at-bat, his eighth of the year but left with knee soreness meaning he’s no lock to play on Wednesday.
Jeong-hyeop Heo (OF) - Blasted his first home run during a 2-for-4 game with two RBI.
Kia Tigers
Preston Tucker (OF) - Reclaimed his league lead in RBI (37) driving in three going 2-for-4 with a walk.
Hyung-woo Choi (DH) - Back in the lineup with a 2-for-4 contest scoring a run and driving in two.
NC Dinos
Myung-gi Lee (OF) - Hit machine Lee went 4-for-5 with a run, a double, and an RBI. He’s on a 12-game hit streak with seven multi-hit games in it ascending to fifth in the KBO in average (.372) as a result.
Eui-ji Yang (C) - Went 1-for-4 with a run and a double.
Aaron Altherr (OF) - Swiped his sixth base along with going 1-for-4 with a run scored.
KT Wiz
Yong-ho Jo (OF) - Reached base four times in five plate appearances with two hits and two walks.
Baek-ho Kang (1B) - Recorded two hits in five at-bats along with stealing his first base.
Han-joon Yoo (DH) - Blasted his fifth home run going 1-for-4 with two runs. He’s hit safely in seven of his last eight games with three home runs and two dingers in his last three.
Mel Rojas Jr. (OF) - Finished 1-for-4 with a run, double and walk.
SK Wyverns
Jamie Romak (1B) - Smacked his sixth home run driving in two along with a walk in five plate appearances.
Eui-yoon Jeong (OF) - Went 2-for-4 with his first home run.
Samsung Lions
Sang-su Kim (2B) - Tallied two hits in five at-bats with a run and a double.
Hak-ju Lee (SS) - Continues to trend up going 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI. He’s racked up six hits in the last two games.
Wednesday slate could be a high scoring one with only Mike Wright headlining the starting pitching in the five games. Since bullpens yield runs in this league, no lead remains safe. Be sure to stay with Fantasy Alarm across all fantasy formats to remain ahead of the competition.
Statistical Credits
myKBOstats.com
Eng.koreabaseball.co