Once again weather played a role on Thursday’s slate with the NC Dinos at Kia Tigers game postponed. Dinos ace Chang-mo Koo probably shifts to a start on Friday against Hanwha at home instead of facing a tougher opponent on the road. Speaking of Hanwha, they continue to turn over the roster:

 

Hanwha immediately placed their speedy acquisition atop their lineup making him an intriguing play against teams who give up stolen bases. They also recalled veterans Seong-yul Lee and Jin-heong Choi from the Futures league after serving enough time there to return to the KBO. Despite all of this, the Eagles got swept at home by Kia but not without a fight. 

Kiwoom won its second straight game against Lotte via a walk-off: 

 

Also, some history on Thursday for an SK Wyvern veteran third baseman:

 

After a slow start this season, Choi’s turned things around in June and now homered four times over his last four contests. In an effort to cover all of the day’s events, it’s time to look at the top performances across the four game slate. 

Starting Pitcher Spotlight

For a third straight game, Dan Straily of the Lotte Giants did not factor in the decision but tossed a quality outing recording 12 strikeouts over eight innings giving up three hits, two earned runs and zero walks. Straily’s defense struggled a bit in the second inning leading to the runs but his stuff continues to evolve in the KBO:

 

Working with Codify Baseball in the off-season, Straily gained more movement with slightly reduced velocity fueling his recent success and he now leads the KBO in strikeouts (62) with Chang-mo Koo’s game rained out. So far in June, Straily owns a minuscule 1.21 ERA, 0.54 WHIP and 25:2 K:BB in 22.1 innings of work. Pretty, pretty good. 

LG’s Tyler Wilson notched his third win tossing 6.2 innings allowing six hits, three earned runs and two walks with four strikeouts. 

Migrating towards his FIP, Odrisamer Despaigne bounced back with his third win of the season lasting seven innings at SK yielding six hits, two earned runs and four walks with three strikeouts. Although the walks in this outing should be concerning, Despaigne flashed his arsenal navigating around the Wyverns lineup for his first win this month. 

Seung-ho Lee ended up with a no-decision going against Straily but turned in another solid outing giving up seven hits and one run (zero earned) in seven innings for Kiwoom. This follows up six shutout innings on the road against the Dinos his last time out translating to zero earned runs his last 13 innings of work. More encouraging, the four strikeouts with no walks on Thursday. 

Hitter Highlights

LG Twins

  • Ji-hwan Oh (SS) - Remained second in the lineup despite the return of Ramos could mean an uptick in Oh’s value. He went 1-for-3 with three runs and a walk. He’s eight for his last 16 with five runs, two doubles and three RBI for the surging Twins. 

  • Hyun-soo Kim (OF) - Hit machine Kim racked up three in four at-bats including his fourth home run driving in two and walked. He’s hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games and homered three times in them with nine RBI. 

  • Roberto Ramos (1B) - Activated off the injured list, Ramos recorded a no-hit day striking out twice and walking three times in his return. Despite missing five games, he still leads the KBO in home runs (13). 

  • Kang-nam Yoo (C) - Went 2-for-5 with a run and an RBI. Yoo’s knocked in 19 runs in June in only 15 contests. He also raised his average to .316 this season in the process. 

Hanwha Eagles

  • Soo-kwang Noh (OF) - Newly acquired Noh hit leadoff for the Eagles going 3-for-5 with a run scored. He swiped 27 bases last year and could be very active atop the lineup for a team struggling for runs and wins. 

  • Jin-haeng Choi (DH) - Fresh from his time in the Futures League, Choi tallied two hits in four at-bats with an RBI in his return to Hanwha batting fourth. 

Doosan

  • Kun-woo Park (OF) - Finished 2-for-4 with a run, an RBI and walked playing through a thigh injury for Doosan.

  • Joo-hwan Choi (1B) - Launched his eighth home run while going 2-for-4 with two runs, three RBI and drew a walk. 

  • Jae-hwan Kim (OF) - Returned to the lineup after missing two games with two hits in five at-bats scoring a run and driving in two. 

Samsung Lions

  • Sang-su Kim (2B) - Racked up three hits in four at-bats with a run, double and stole his fourth base. 

  • Hak-ju Lee (SS) - Recorded his fourth straight multi-hit game going 2-for-3 with two RBI. He’s 10-for-his-last-15 with four runs, a home run and six RBI. 

KT Wiz

  • Yong-ho Jo (OF) - Went 2-for-5 with two runs, an RBI and stole his third base. 

  • Baek-ho Kang (1B) - An encouraging sign going 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI plus stole his second base after missing a start on Tuesday with a hamstring issue. If Kang’s truly healthy, he could be on the precipice of a power binge. Stay tuned. 

  • Mel Rojas Jr. (OF) - Just another 2-for-5 day for Rojas Jr. with a double and an RBI. He’s among the league leaders in average (third - .377), RBI (tied for first - 37) and home runs (second - 12) in the triple crown categories. 

SK Wyverns

  • Jeong Choi (3B) - As covered in the introduction, Choi blasted his sixth home run moving into third all-time in the KBO. He also reached base via a walk and hit-by-pitch in four plate appearances. Choi’s turned his season around this month carrying a .340 average (16-for-47) with 11 runs, four home runs, eight RBI and eight walks along with a robust .660 slugging percentage. 

Lotte Giants

  • Dixon Machado (SS) - Racked up three hits including a double in four at-bats and scored a run in Lotte’s loss. 

  • Chi-hong An (2B) - Went 2-for-4 with an RBI. 

Courtesy of a rainout, LG moved closer to the NC Dinos posing a threat on usurping them for the top spot in the KBO heading into the weekend. Here’s the updated standings:

 

Luckily for the Dinos, they host the struggling Eagles over the weekend included with all the pending three-game sets:

  • Hanwha Eagles at NC Dinos

  • Lotte Giants at KT Wiz

  • Doosan Bears at LG Twins

  • SK Wyverns at Kiwoom

  • Samsung Lions at Kia Tigers

While negotiations continue in the MLB, for those interested an article discussing how playing in an empty stadium feels:

 

As always, be sure to stay ahead of the competition with Fantasy Alarm with coverage across all fantasy formats including English Premier League coverage by Steve Pimental and be well. 

 

Statistical Credits

myKBOstats.com

Eng.koreabaseball.com