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When I woke up on Thursday morning, I got a little nervous about the two totals I took. Both games had five runs or less scored around the sixth inning, and Samsung hadn't even gotten on the board yet. The NC Dinos and Hanwha Eagles eventually saved the day putting up eight runs apiece and with some help from their opponents, we started off with a two-game sweep.
- Thursday, May 7 Picks: 2-0
- 2020 KBO Season: 2-0
If you’re reading this, I’m sure you already have watched at least SOME of the first few KBO games. While we don’t know many players by name, it is still baseball and our sportsbooks are offering lines. Below I’ll be diving into the run lines, moneylines, and overs and unders for the each day's slate.
I won’t promise that I’m some expert on the KBO but once I knew they were playing, I’ve been spending my evenings doing research and trying to become acclimated with the teams, players, and any stats that I can get my hands on. If you haven’t already, check out www.mykbostats.com; it’s is a fantastic one-stop-shop for us in America to get our KBO fix. You can also check out our KBO DFS lineup picks article after this one.
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LG Twins (-132) at NC Dinos
O/U: 8.5
We get the season debut of American Tyler Wilson, who will be fresh off his 14-day quarantine since re-entering South Korea from America amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Wilson was LG's best hurler in 2019, going 14-7 with a 2.92 ERA, and now entering his third KBO season, one would have to imagine the the 29-year-old is looking for a MLB contract to follow this season. Offensively, they're in a bit of a rut after dropping eight runs on Opening Day. Roberto Ramos, a former Rockies farmhand, is carrying his weight with a .364 average but has yet to drive in a run despite serving as the cleanup hitter. Ramos and Hyun-soo Kim are the only hitters with an average above .273 and only four players have driven in runs; quite simply, they need more production.
The Dinos are 3-0 and rolling to start the season. A season-opening sweep of Samsung isn't really that impressive but sure hard to overlook. Wilson's opposition is Jae-hak Lee who's entering his eighth season with NC. Lee finished 2019 with a 10-4 record and 3.75 ERA, and while his strikeout total (91) was the lowest of his career, the 29-year-old put up his second lowest walk total (43) and his six home runs allowed is the lowest total of his eight professional seasons. On offense, the Dinos surprisingly have the third worst team batting average through the first three games at .238. Aaron Altherr should return to the lineup on Friday after getting Thursday off, but until catcher Eui-ji Yang gets going, the lineup might remain inconsistent.
Wilson is going into this season with big aspirations and he wants to get started off on the right foot, meanwhile Lee has changed up his game a bit and has become more of a contact pitcher. After NC put up a big game on Thursday, they'll get a little more competition from Wilson. This pitching matchup will silence some bats on both sides.
Pick: Under 8.5
Kia Tigers (-150) at Samsung Lions
O/U: 8.5
This is ESPN's KBO game of the day but on paper there's some to be desired here if they expect people to watch at the crack of dawn.
If it wasn't for a five-run eighth inning on Thursday, Kia would be 0-3 to start the year. Their run differential through three games is 12-19, mainly thanks to an 11-2 drubbing on Opening Day. Drew Gagnon will make his KBO debut on Friday after a brief, and ugly, cup of coffee with the Mets over the last two seasons. In 2019, he threw just 23.2 innings, gave up 34 hits, 11 home runs, a 1.732 WHIP, and a sub-9 FIP. Offensively, the Tigers are led by Preston Tucker who hit his first homer of the season on Thursday. He drove in 50 last season after signing in Korea mid-way through 2019. However, he has some help from Sun-bin Kim and Hyuong-woo Choi who both have over a .400 average in the early going.
The Lions took their second beat down in three days on Thursday and things really aren't looking too good early on. Just three hitters have more than a single hit, meanwhile they've scored just five runs and have struck out a league-high 27 times. One bright side for Samsung is three of their five runs have come from home runs, the solo variety. Dong-yub Kim has one of them to go with his .333 average, but there still little production from Won-seok Lee and Ja-wook Koo who both drove in 70-plus runs and hit at least 15 homers a season ago. Southpaw Chae-heung Choi toes the rubber for the first time in 2020 and at 25 he's still pretty green compared to the rest of the league. He went 6-6 with a 4.81 ERA over 106.2 innings last year. Nothing about him jumps off the plate, as he gave up just 10 homers a season ago, carried an 18.6 K%, and a 7.5 BB% but one would assume there is more here with his young age.
Samsung's lineup is pretty rough right now, but there is talent that has produced before and they're in a good spot at home to welcome the new foreigner Gagnon. Add in that some of Kia's top hitters bat from the left side, and Choi has an opportunity to get the Lions on the winning track.
Pick: Samsung +128
SK Wyverns (-134) at Lotte Giants
O/U: 9
These Wyverns have plenty of expectations heading into 2020 after stumbling in the semifinals last year. Following a 1-2 start, they get to travel to face the hottest team in the KBO, the Lotte Giants. We'll see Seung-won Moon make his season debut and he'll have his work cut out for him. Despite an 11-7 record with a 3.88 ERA in 2019, Moon served up a league-high 23 homers. Otherwise, he's a pitch-to-contact righty with a serviceable 1.13 WHIP, 17 K%, and a 5.6 BB%. Looking at the lineup, the Wyverns have been mixing things up early with seven guys having at least eight plate appearances. Dong-min Han has slugged two homers already, but Jamie Romak and Jeong Choi have just three doubles and a run batted in between the two of them. SK simply needs more out of them after they each hit 29 homers a year ago.
The Lotte bats have come alive to open the year after the Giants finished dead last in 2019. With 23 runs scored in three games and six starters with above a .300 average, they clearly are out to show that last year was a fluke. An addition of Dixon Machado will bolster the middle infield, but returners Ah-seop Son, Jun-woo Jeon, and Dae-Ho Lee are going to be expected to carry the lineup along. On the bump will be Kyung-eun Noh, a 36-year-old righty. He was solid last year in 33 appearances (19 starts), going 9-6 with a 4.08 ERA and 1.19 WHIP. A blemish on his card would be the 18 homers he served up along with the pedestrian 16 K%.
Both pitchers are prone to the long ball, and while one team is red-hot right now, the other has a great lineup that is pitches away from breaking out. While we won't know if Lotte is for real for at least a few weeks, they'll need to put their best product on the field to compete with the Wyverns. Production at the plate should be plenty in this series.
Pick: Over 9
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